Good Fortune
by statefarmsnake
Summary: Dib goes to a fortune teller to find out something important to him. Instead of a response, he ends up passing out and wakes up in a strange cave system with many of his friends. How did he end up there and will he get out?
1. The Festival

Good Fortune

Chapter 1 – The Festival

The annual festival had finally arrived in Dib's neighborhood. Kids were running around, having adrenaline rushes from all of the sweets they had eaten as their tired parents tried to keep up with them. There were several games, rides, and other fun attractions that drew in the attentions of many once every year.

Though… Dib seem to be one of those having fun. He walked through the center of the festival with his sister, Gaz. Like every year, his father had promised to join him for the festival, but was caught up in the lab and wasn't able to make it. Dib and Gaz were used to this already, and just made the most of it.

Though, Dib wasn't having any fun. There was a lot on his mind and his sister wasn't helping. She was so engrossed in her games and some of the festivities, that she paid Dib no mind when he even attempted to talk to her. Dib simply wanted to release what he was thinking about to someone.

"Do you know what I mean?" Dib asked.

"If what you mean is that you're going to leave me alone, then yes, I know what you mean," Gaz said.

Dib sighed. "I'm just saying that Zim has been acting… strange lately. He hasn't tried to invade the Earth, he hasn't come up with some diabolical plot, or any of that. In fact, all he did was come to school and just sat there silently. He even answered one of Ms. Bitters' questions correctly. It must mean something, Gaz."

"Yes, it does mean something," Gaz said, as she looked at Dib.

"Really?" Dib asked, getting excited. "So you see it too?"

"No, Dib," Gaz said before returning her gaze to the ground. "Honestly, you have to give it a rest. Zim's been here for 2 years now and he hasn't destroyed the Earth. What does that say to you?"

"Uh…."

"Exactly," Gaz said. "You don't even know." She walked off and went to one of the tents. She wanted to get away from the huge crowds of children, but in this environment, there was no stopping them.

Dib sighed and decided to go his own way. He walked forward, his gaze slowly lowering to the ground. He continued to collect his thoughts until eventually, he ran into someone. Someone he didn't expect to run at the festival.

"Oof. Hey watch where you're going, you _filthy human!_" a familiar voice exclaimed.

Dib looked up and saw the alien that had been 'invading' his thoughts. "Sorry."

Zim looked to see who he bumped into. "Oh, it's you, Dib-human," he said as he put his hands on his hips. "What do I owe the pleasure?" he asked, sarcastically.

"Very funny," Dib said. "And I should be asking you the same question. I figured you would hate a place like this where there's a bunch of crowds with screaming children. There's so many people around that can discover your… _secret identity_."

"Don't be stupid, Dib," Zim said. "As you should know by now, I am a _master of disguise. _Because _I am Zim!_" He brought his hands together, but then he realized that he was yelling in public. "Also, many humans in one spot only makes it easier for me to eliminate them all at once."

Dib rolled his eyes. "Alright, cut the act. I know that you're not here to do any invading business or anything like that."

Zim paused. "Of _course _I am," Zim exclaimed. "Why would you ever consider the fact that Zim isn't continuing his mission at a _prime_ opportunity?"

Dib chuckled. "Because I think I'd know you by now. Your clothes are tattered, your PAK isn't even calibrated, and I think your left antenna is crooked. Highly unprepared for a day of invading, don't you think?"

Zim coughed, slightly embarrassed. "Yes, well um… it's just a clever distraction. I got you, didn't I?"

Dib gave Zim a sly smile. "No, try again."

"Uh… I…"

"Can't think of anything, can you?" Dib asked, smirking.

"Don't be smart with me, _stupid human_. I am _Zim. Almighty invader_. I will not be talked to like that."

"Oh yeah?" Dib asked. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I am going to…" Zim thought, then he scanned the area. "I am going to go over to that stand and discover what that pink and blue puffy stuff is, then I'll pummel you. I'll show _no mercy_." Zim then walked over to the cotton candy stand.

Dib laughed. "Yeah, I'd like to see you try." He then went in his own direction, leaving Zim be for a bit. If there was something that he had to admit to himself, it was that his interactions with Zim were something that gave his life a bit of meaning. It's been over 2 years, and Zim and Dib created a form of… relationship. Zim threatens to destroy Dib, Dib blocks plan. Do it again the next day.

Though, as of late, those interactions seemed to mean a bit more to Dib. He didn't know why, but THESE were the thoughts that had been clogging his mind. Not of Zim lazily doing his job as an invader, but of his subtle friendship with him. It was beginning to bug him, and he didn't know what he could do about it.

He walked forward a bit more until he ended up at a tall and multi-colored tent. Most of the tents were made to stand out, but this one seemed to stand more than they all did. Every color of the rainbow was represented rather than just a few, and this one was taller and wider. Dib looked to the sign and it said 'Fortune Teller'.

Dib looked around at the other festivities. All of the games and rides seemed to have full lines, and half of them, he didn't even show any interest in them. He then returned his gaze to the Fortune Teller tent, which was perfectly empty and was practically drawing him in.

He shrugged his shoulders and slowly entered. The space inside wasn't all that large when it came to walking room. Though, it was enough for Dib and the fortune teller to fit comfortably.

"Ah, I've been expecting you, Dib," the fortune teller said. She was an older white human. Her hair was long and it was completely grey. Her idle look seemed somewhat angry, but she had a sweet and tender smile.

"You've been expecting me? H-how do you know my name?" Dib asked. He never had someone expect him before.

"Yes. My fortune has told me that I would be seeing you, Dib Membrane, in my tent on this very day. Looking at you now, I can already sense you have a scramble of thoughts deep inside of you."

Dib forced himself to not roll his eyes. He figured she was just making this up just so that he would believe the fortunes were real. Though, he still was skeptical about the fact that she knew his name. "Okay," he said as he sat down in front of the fortune teller's table. It had everything a generic fortune teller would have: a crystal ball, tarot cards, things like that. "So… can you tell me a fortune?"

"Yes, but you need to tell me what fortune I can give you," the fortune teller said, her smile fading. She paused for a moment. "Though, I need you to do something for me."

"What is that?" Dib asked.

"I need you to promise me that you will tell no lies. Neither to me, nor to yourself."

"Why would I lie to myself?"

The fortune teller blinked and leaned a bit closer to Dib. "Many humans much like yourself hide from the truth as if it is a form of plague. You must reveal to yourself that the truth is not a scary thing and is something that you have to live with, whether it is good or bad."

"Oh," Dib said. He felt a bit weird being told a statement like this, but he knew what she meant. A lot of people do hide from the truth. "I promise I will not lie to either of us."

"Good. So, you would like your fortune told to you?"

Dib nodded. "Yes, I would. That is what you're here for, right?"

"Yes, I am here to speak on behalf of the spirits," she said in a wispy voice. "But first you must tell them what fortune you want to hear."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about." The fortune teller placed her hands on Dib's left hand, causing him to flinch. "I can tell that you have a lot of negative aura brewing up inside of you. The spirits are telling me that you are uncertain about something important. Or…" she paused for a moment. "SomeONE important. Perhaps a friend… or a loved one. A friend with unusual intentions."

This then brought images into Dib's mind. A friend. Like Zim. Though he stored the thoughts again.

The fortune teller opened her eyes and looked into Dib's eyes, almost as if she could read his thoughts. "Ah, yes. It is uncertainty about a friend. Dib Membrane… do you know what you need to ask the spirits?"

Dib didn't even need to think. He knew exactly what he wanted to ask. He nodded and said, "Yeah. I do now." Dib looked down and then up into the tall tent. "I've been thinking about someone a lot lately, and he can't seem to get out of my head. And… I think I'm developing feelings for this person… special feelings. And… I'm not sure if he has feelings for me. Zim has been a better part of my lives for a couple of years, and I don't know what I would do without him." Dib looked at the fortune teller. She was smiling again.

"The spirits are smiling at you, Dib Membrane. They see the good in your soul." The fortune teller bent over and looked under her table. She rummaged through the many things that she had stored in the tent until she eventually revealed a large jug. It was brown with several purple lines on it. "In order to truly see the light of your fortune, then you must drink from this jug."

Dib leaned a little bit back, avoiding the jug as she practically forced it on him. "I'm not sure if I feel comfortable about drinking something that I don't know what it is."

"Trust is a funny thing, Dib Membrane," she said quickly. "However, if you don't drink from this jug, then you will continue to live in the shadows of confusion and your spirit will show eternal holes. If you would like to see the answer to your fortune and bring good fortune to your life, then I urge you to drink."

Dib hesitated for a moment. He didn't believe that the woman would ever give him something that would harm him, but he wasn't sure if this was all a trick. Though, curiosity was beginning to burn through him, and he almost couldn't stand the thought of not knowing.

He grabbed the jug from the woman and, with a bit of courage, took a few sips before handing it back.

"Good, you've made a good choice, Dib Membrane," she said, sustaining her smile.

"What do we do now?" Dib asked as he got over how bitter the drink was. It tasted a little like wine, but it was less fruity and more sour.

"Only time will tell. Wait until the end of this experience and you will see the happy ending that you've been looking for."

"What does that mean?"

"Only time will tell," she repeated.

That's when Dib felt it. His entire body, little by little began feeling a little strange. First, his stomach became a little queasy, and his head then began to feel heavy. Then he felt his motor skills were shutting down.

"W-what did you do to me?" Dib asked with the little energy that he had left. He was beginning to lean onto the table in front of him. Everything was becoming incredibly foggy and he almost couldn't hear the last statement from the fortune teller before he passed out.

"Only time will tell."


	2. Jail Cells

Good Fortune

Chapter 2 – The Jail Cells

Dib eventually woke up on something hard. His head was in pain, but the pain was bearable. He slowly moved one limb at a time, making sure that everything was fully functional with his body. When he noticed that there was nothing wrong with him, he finally decided to open his eyes.

He slowly did so, and saw that he was lying on his stomach on a wooden floor. He used his hands to propel himself up until he was able to fully see the room that he was in.

He was in a bedroom, though it wasn't exactly like one he would find on Earth. The design was strange, and the wood flooring was more of a maroon color than brown. But the biggest thing for him to note was that the bedroom was entirely in shambles. Wall hangings were crooked or had already fallen, and any form of fabric was torn or in several pieces.

Dib quickly got the rest of himself up, managing to stand for more than a few moments. After he got his balance down, he then made a point to do a complete 360 to get a full view of the room. He took in some more of the details and found a clear exit at the other side of the door.

Dib tried to keep calm, though his heart was racing way faster than it should have been. "That old woman drugged me with that drink thing and threw me in here," Dib whispered to himself. He looked around some more, but found nothing else out of the ordinary in the room. "What does she want to do with me?"

Dib began walking towards the door since it wouldn't help him to stay in the room. He felt groggy and his main goal at that point was to get out of there as soon as possible without getting himself killed. So far, Dib like his odds.

The door led to an incredibly long hallway. Dib was hesitant since it was a bit dim in the hallway, but he knew that he had to get out of there. He entered the hallway and headed for the door on the other side.

Though, as he went down the hall, Dib noticed something. On both sides, there were several signs hanging from the wall. He figured that they had to be important, so he began reading them aloud to himself.

"Welcome to the first step of your enlightment," the first one said.

"You will witness a lot of loss."

"Your goal is to overcome the loss, and find the answers to all of your questions."

Dib skimmed through all of the messages, getting more and more anxious. Most of them referred to death and how it was important to the concept of life.

Eventually, when he got towards the end, things became a bit clearer. And scarier.

"There are two lessons beyond this hallway: companionship and sacrifice," Dib said to himself.

"You must understand companionship before you understand sacrifice. You must understand sacrifice before you understand companionship."

Dib was getting disturbed by the bothersome words. Even THESE things were starting to derail him. Though, the last sign was the one that got to him the most.

"Your friends are here."

Dib didn't have many friends. Though… he feared for the worst. He didn't want to believe that these signs were true. He acted quickly and ran forward into the next room. His eyes adjusted to the bright light in the room and when they did…

He didn't like what he saw.

Dib had entered a prison-like room. The color and disheveled walls matched the bedroom's design, though there were several steel bars everywhere, blocking access to small, individual rooms.

Prison cells…

Dib got his bearings straight. There were many cells: at least twenty of them. They were all aligned in a perfect hallway format, with cells both on the left and right side.

Dib immediately looked into the cell that was directly on his right and noticed that there was something on the ground. He went over to the cell, hoping to find some answers. As he approached the cell, he didn't find answers, but he did find out what the thing was.

It was Gaz.

Dib was shocked. They had gotten his sister. She was currently passed out on the ground.

"Gaz?" Dib asked, banging on the bars. "Gaz, wake up!"

Gaz slowly opened her eyes and a bit of life seemed to fill her body. She lifted her head and then looked around and finally looked at Dib. Her eyes opened a bit wider. "Dib, what's going on?"

"I don't know," Dib responded. "I think we were all kidnapped or something!"

Gaz growled and got off of the ground, brushing of some of the dust. "Dib, what did you?! Why am I in a prison cell?"

"I didn't do anything!" Dib exclaimed. "I swear! I just woke up just a couple of minutes ago. I have no idea what's going on."

"That may be true," Gaz said. "But you're not the one locked up, so you're going to fix this."

"I swear, I will fix this," Dib said. He looked around Gaz's jail cell and noticed something on the wall right behind Gaz. "Gaz, what's that?" He pointed to a piece of paper that said 'Give to Dib'.

Gaz turned around and said, "Hm." She walked over to the wall and grabbed the piece of paper. There was a small envelope attached to it. Gaz handed it to Dib. "Read it."

Dib grabbed it and read it to himself.

_Dear Dib Membrane,_

_Welcome to the Prison Room. This is where your journey begins, and this is also where you will learn your most important lesson that will be used throughout your experience here in this abandoned irken home._

"Abandoned… irken home?" Dib whispered to himself. "How is that even possible?

_At this time, you have found your sister. Many others are in the rest of the cells. You will need all of them and their skills to help you progress through the upcoming obstacles. Makes a poor decision and there will be consequences._

_So please, take the keys enclosed in the envelope. The locks are rigged so that each key can go in, but cannot come out. One-time usage only._

_Here's the catch, though. Nine people, human and irken, are trapped behind these walls and there are only eight keys._

_Who are you willing to sacrifice?_

Dib grabbed the keys in the envelope. He counted them just to make sure he wasn't being lied to. He sighed when he only counted eight. He let the note drop to his side. Dib couldn't bear the burden of having such a decision.

"Well?" Gaz asked. She crossed her arms. "What did it say? Are you going to free me or not?"

Dib didn't even respond. He knew that he needed to act quickly.

And he knew that he wasn't going to sacrifice his sister. He grabbed one of the keys and didn't even hesitate as he brought it into the lock of Gaz's cell door and twisted it. The door opened easily.

Gaz stepped out and said, "Well, that's dumb. They just gave you the keys? Why even lock us up in the first place?"

Dib shook his head. "It's more complicated than that."

"I don't care," Gaz said. "Tell me anyways.

Dib sighed. "There are nine of us here in these cells, including you." He held up the remaining seven keys that he was given. "We only have eight keys."

"So… one of us is getting left behind?"

Dib nodded. "Yeah, one of is getting left behind."

"Well, then give me the keys," Gaz demanded. "You're too soft. You shouldn't be trusted with that kind of decision."

Dib kept a strong grip on the keys. "This whole thing is centered around me. I should do it."

Gaz rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine. I'm going to look around. Try not to screw this up any more than it already is." She walked away.

Dib sighed. He was hoping for at least a little bit of gratitude, but he couldn't think about that with 8 others trapped in cells.

Dib moved forward and looked to his left and right. He didn't quite recognize the person on the right, so he pretended he didn't see him. He was an irken, so Dib wasn't keen on saving him right away. Humans obviously came first for him.

He then turned to the left and gasped.

"Dad!" Dib yelled. He ran up to his father and grasped onto the bars separating the two of them.

"Son, what's going on?" Professor Membrane asked. He wasn't in his usual lab coat. He was stripped of any gadget and was in a disheveled grey shirt and pants. "Did you get me thrown in jail somehow?"

"No, Dad," Dib said. "Listen, I can't explain right now, but we need to find a way out of here." He grabbed one of the keys and unlocked his father's door. Dib swung it open and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, son. I am Professor Membrane. I will figure something out."

"Okay, great… thanks, Dad," Dib said. He didn't know it yet, but he had a feeling that his dad would not be of much help. "Gaz, is at the other side of this room. Ask her to fill you in on what's going on so far. I have to… finish something."

"Alright, then," Professor Membrane. "But make it quick. We have to find a way out of here quick and get back home. I believe I left all of the computers on."

Dib sighed, placing a hand on his face. "Yeah, fine Dad." He walked forward and his dad walked past him towards Gaz.

Again, he looked to his left and right when he saw the next set of cells. On his right were two cells right next to each other, and they had two familiar leaders in each of them. Dib recognized them as Zim's Almighty Tallest.

They were talking with each other through the bars. Red finally turned his head and spotted Dib. He recognized him and yelled, "Hey, you!"

Dib ignored the calling Tallest and simply looked to his left and saw someone he didn't want to see behind bars.

"Zim?" Dib asked as he approached Zim's cell.

Zim's eyes were widened and he asked, "Dib, how did you do this? Y-you… you stripped my PAK of all of its machinery and threw me in prison. How could you do this to _Zim!_"

"Calm down, calm down," Dib said. He latched onto the bars and said, "I didn't do this, I promise. I have nothing to do with this."

Zim sighed. "If you didn't do this, then who _did_? Answer me _Dib_!"

"I don't know," Dib said. He held up one of the keys and said, "But I do have one of the keys to this jail cell. Would you like to be released?"

Zim eyed the key. "Oh yes, very much so."

"Okay, then," Dib said. "But when you go out, you better not be mad with me. We're going to need to work together to get out of this."

"Yeah, yeah," Zim said. "Please, _release Zim_!"

Dib unlocked Zim's door and swung it open. Zim exited the room and rubbed his arm. "Thank you, Dib-worm…"

"You're welcome. Now, are you willing to cooperate?"

Zim sighed. "Yes." Zim looked across the room to his Tallest. "But… you must do one thing for me. The Tallest _have _to be freed. You wouldn't leave the Tallest behind, would you? They're the Tallest. And they're in _Zim's_ presence."

Dib nodded. He gave Zim a quick overview of what was going on, and let him know about the limited keys situation. Though, in the end, he agreed to free the Tallest in exchange for Zim's silence on the matter.

After he freed the Tallest, he and Zim instructed all of the freed irkens and humans to come together.

"Alright, you filthy humans," Zim said to Gaz and Professor Membrane. "We are indeed enemies, but we are now enemies with a common goal. Let us drop our hatred for each other for a short time in order to escape this terrible place."

"Son, what is the green kid talking about?" Professor Membrane.

"Forget it, Dad," Dib said. "Just so you know, this is Zim, Red, and Purple."

"How do you know our names?" Red asked.

"Do you honestly think I learned nothing from going through Zim's personal database?" Dib asked. "But that's not important right now. We have a decision to make."

"What kind of decision?" Purple asked.

Dib lifted up the remaining keys in his hand. "I have a total of 8 keys, but there are nine prisoners. One person is going to get left behind.

"Who are you going to choose?" Zim asked.

"I don't know. I guess we should first go through the rest of this prison and find out who is left. Zim, you can probably help me identify some of the irkens."

Zim nodded. He and Dib walked throughout the room and looked into each of the cells. Once they went full circle, they returned to the group, making a list of everyone they saw in a prison cell.

_Skoodge, Tak, Gir, and Keef_

Dib decided to sit down on the wood floor and asked everyone else to do the same. They did so.

"Alright… we're going to need to make a decision," Dib said morbidly. "And I don't want to do it by myself. Someone is going to have to get left behind."


	3. The Smasher Room

Good Fortune

Chapter 3 – The Smasher Room

Dib nodded. He wasn't entirely happy about finding someone to leave behind, but he knew that he made a good decision. "So, does everyone agree that Keef should be left behind?"

"Yeah!" Purple exclaimed. "He hasn't stopped trying to say hi to me ever since I got out of the cell."

"The kid's a bigger nuisance than Zi-…" Red stopped himself.

Zim looked up at his Tallest, giving them a confused looked.

"The kid's a bigger nuisance than… zits. Yeah, zits are terrible."

"Oh, yes. I agree, my Tallest. The Keef kid is most certainly one of the _stupidest _humans I have encountered," Zim said. "_Dib_! Are you ready, filthy human?"

Dib nodded. "Yeah." He went over to the remaining cells and released Tak, Skoodge, and Gir. There were no more keys left and he turned around to Keef. He was clinging to the bars, creepily smiling at Dib. "Hey, Dib. Are you going to release me from the cell, too? That'd be so great. Then you, Zim, and I can play together and have loads of fun!"

Dib frowned. He didn't even form a response as he turned and went back to the group. "Let's… just go guys. I don't want to stick around here for right now."

Everyone nodded and headed to the next room.

"Dib?!" Keef exclaimed. "Hey, Dib. Where are you going? I'm still trapped in here! You're coming back, right? I can bake you cookies and we can sing songs and stuff."

Keef's yells echoed through the room. And even after they entered the next room and closed the door, Keef was still evidently yelling, until eventually… silence.

"Good riddance," Zim said.

"Yeah… good riddance," Dib said. He didn't care for Keef at all, though he can't get out of his head the fact that he just left one of his fellow humans behind to rot. "Listen, we need to stop for a second."

Professor Membrane turned around to face Dib. "Son, I'm thinking the best course of action is to keep moving forward."

"We will," Dib said. "But we have to get through something important. Dad, do you honestly think that these aliens are humans? Are you really that oblivious?"

"Son, I'm sure these ugly green… things with purple and red eyes just have some serious skin disease that makes them repulsive. That doesn't make them any less human."

"Ugly?!" Purple yelled. He brought his arms out towards Professor Membrane. "Say that to me again!"

Red held Purple back. "Calm down, Purple. We don't have any weapons and our PAKs have been wiped clean of technology. We can't afford to fight. Besides, they aren't worth it."

Dib sighed. "Gaz, you believe me, right?"

Gaz sighed. "Dib, I don't really care. Just get us out of here so we can go home."

Dib nodded. "Fine. But just know that I told you so. Aliens exist."

The group nodded and kept moving forward. Dib took up the rear and Zim eventually joined him.

"What is the point of you doing this?" Zim asked.

"Doing what?" Dib asked.

"Exposing us as irkens," Zim said. "It's now blatantly obvious since none of us have our disguises on, and yet your father seems too _stupid_ to notice a difference. If I were Dib, I'd think I'm wasting my own time."

"I'm not wasting my time," Dib said. "I don't know what this cave is about, but something tells me that we're going to have to work together to get out of it. If we're all at each other's throats, then we're never going to get through."

"Zim was never fond of what you humans call teamwork," Zim said. "But… perhaps I know what you're talking about."

"You do?" Dib asked.

"Yeah," Zim said. "But, don't expect me to do much with Gaz and your dumb dad. I already have to tolerate Skoodge, Tak… and even Gir. I don't want to be slowed down even more."

"They're smarter than you know," Dib said.

"Then show me," Zim said. "Show me just how smart they are."

"Uh…" Dib looked over at his father and Gaz. Gaz was very creative and can think things through, though he knew his father wouldn't be able to do much without his equipment. "I got nothing for you."

"Exactly. Just think about it, Dib. It is not the irkens that need to strengthen up for some _teamwork_, it's you stupid humans." Zim walked forward, crossing his arms in the back. He wanted to talk to the Tallest for a little bit.

Dib sighed. He knew Zim was right, but he wasn't going to let that bring him down. He had to create some alliances, and he wasn't going to do that if all he did was walk around and mope in the darkness of the creepy irken home. He first decided to deal with Skoodge, mainly because he wasn't in the mood to handle Tak.

Dib approached Skoodge and said, "Hello, you're Skoodge, right?"

"That's right," Skoodge said. "And you're that Dib kid that keeps getting in Zim's way, right?"

Dib sighed. "Yeah… right."

"Okay," Skoodge said. "So… do you have any idea what's going on? No one has filled me in on it."

Dib shook his head. He wanted to tell everyone about his visit with the fortune teller, but he felt it wasn't important. He didn't even think it was relevant. "Just keep moving forward. We're going to have to work together to get ourselves out of this."

Skoodge shrugged. "Fine. But I'm going to be honest with you. I know the Tallest, Zim, and Tak pretty well. They aren't going to want to cooperate with you."

"They will," Dib said. "I'm going to figure out something. It's not like I haven't learned anything at all from hunting Zim for a year."

"Okay," Skoodge said.

"Thanks, Skoodge…" Dib said with a slight sigh. He was in a pretty dark situation with what he was thrown in. He just wished he had a bit more information to go off of before jumping into the fires of these challenges.

As for Zim, he wasn't faring much better. He walked forward to the Tallest and said, "My Tallest, may I speak to you for a moment?"

Red sighed. "Yeah, what is it, Zim?"

Zim looked up to the both of them as they kept walking. "I know you may not appreciate the thought, and I have no intentions of telling my Tallest what to do, but… I believe we need to work together with the humans in order to get out of here."

Purple nodded. "We know, Zim."

"You do?" Zim asked.

"We aren't happy about it," Red said. "But Purple and I were one of the first ones to wake up in the jail cells. We got to talk for about an hour before Dib showed up to get us out."

"What did you talk about, my Tallest?"

"We're completely stripped of our technology, and we don't have an entire armada anymore," Purple said. "We do not want to be caught dead cooperating with stupid humans, but we know that we have to."

"Though just know that we won't hesitate to throw them into a hazard if we get the opportunity," Red said brutally.

Zim blinked. "Okay, my Tallest. That is all that I needed to hear." He saluted. "I will get a better assessment of the group and report to you my findings."

Red rolled his eyes. "Fine, Zim."

The group made it to the other end of the hall. Dib was leading the pack and placed his hand on the door leading to the next room. On it was a sign that said:

_Teamwork is the best way to make it through all of the challenges in life. The same concept lies here, too. Do you know your group's set of skills?_

Dib sighed. 'I don't need any more ambiguity,' he thought to himself. He simply opened the door, and what he saw next shocked him even more than all of the previous rooms.

There was a loud thumping sound and a tremor every few moments. Dib saw, in the center of the room, a giant slab of metal that was constantly being pressed into the ground. A giant crusher. Anyone found underneath it would be definitely crushed and killed instantly.

"How on Irk are we even going to get past that?" Purple asked, pointing to the crusher.

"I have no idea," Red said. "This is completely ridiculous."

"Hey, hey. Let's not give up hope this easily," Dib said. "There must be another way around this."

"Hey, Dib-stink! On your left, what's that?" Zim yelled, pointing to a small structure.

Dib looked to his left at the small structure. There was a door leading inside. He reached for the handle, but then stopped when he noticed the note on the door.

_In most cases, there is a strength in numbers. In this case, only one can enter this room and control the smasher. Who can you trust that's strong enough to pull your entire group to safety._

Dib read the message to himself and then aloud. He turned around and said, "So… only one person can enter the room. Who wants to volunteer?"

There was a slight hesitation in the group, because no one wanted to have that much responsibility. After a few moments in silence, Skoodge and Tak raised their hands. Dib pointed at Skoodge.

"Skoodge, I've known you longer, so I trust you the most," Dib said.

"What?" Tak asked. "How can you trust someone like him to work machinery like that?"

"Tak… you nearly destroyed Zim and you almost got rid of the entire Earth," Dib said. "I choose Skoodge."

Tak's antennae fell. She initially glared at Dib, but then lowered her guard. "Fine. But if someone gets killed, Skoodge will be held responsible, not me."

"That's fine," Dib said.

Skoodge, however, was a bit more hesitant. In truth, he wanted to prove himself to the rest of the Irkens that he was a worthy ally to them. He felt that this was the first step. Skoodge walked forward and put his hand on the handle of the door and twisted it. The door swung open and Skoodge stepped inside.

As soon as he did, the door swung shut and it was immediately locked. The note wasn't kidding when it meant that no one else was allowed inside. Skoodge was scared about this, but was immediately relieved when he saw a door on the other side that had an 'Exit' sign above it.

He looked to his right and saw the controls for the Smasher. He walked up to the console and studied it for a couple of moments. It wasn't very complicated, but he felt that there was a catch.

Skoodge lowered his finger onto the button and he immediately noticed a change. The smasher was lifted and the tremors finally stopped. Skoodge smiled, feeling successful about it, but he then finally learned what the "catch" was. After only a couple moments of pressing the button, Skoodge felt something poke him from behind. It then slightly penetrated his uniform and skin and went in deeper, causing a surge of pain to go through his body. "AH!" he yelled as his finger lifted off of the button.

As soon as he did so, the tremors from the smasher continued, and the spike was removed from his back. Skoodge turned around and saw that there was a sharp object from behind him that was connected to the console. Whenever he pressed the button, he could lead his friends to safety, but at a slight cost.

Skoodge sighed. "Everyone is trusting you now, Skoodge. You can do this." He looked outside of the window in the room and gave the group a thumbs-up to say that he was ready for people to begin crossing to the other side.

Dib caught the thumbs-up and approached the smasher. Zim was right behind him. The tremors were incredibly powerful from where he was standing, and it was becoming difficult for him to maintain his balance.

Though, it didn't take long for the smasher to stop again and for the shaking to cease. Zim ran across the bridge and made it to the other side with no problem. Dib ran to the other side as well. As he crossed, he could hear the cries and screams of Skoodge from the room.

"What do you think could be hurting him?" Dib asked.

"Who knows?" Zim said. "He probably screams like that all of the time. _Always_ an attention-seeker."

Zim and Dib waited on the other side, and helped people to the other side. Dib watched the smasher, fearing that it would just fall. He wanted to put his trust in Skoodge, but he wasn't sure if he could at a time like this.

In the other room, Skoodge was crying in pain as the spike was slowing draining little bits of blood from his back. The placement was perfect where the pain would easily reach all around his body to cause the most agony.

Then… almost as if it were a reflex from the pain, Skoodge's hand flung off from the button and Skoodge dropped to the floor. As soon as he touched the ground, he heard a loud scream. He slowly stood up and looked out of the window at the group. Many of them were on the other side, but… something was wrong.


	4. The Sentry Maze

Good Fortune

Chapter 4 – The Sentry Maze

Almost as if it were a reflex from the pain, Skoodge's hand flew off from the button and Skoodge dropped to the floor. As soon as he touched the ground, he heard a loud crunch. He slowly stood up and looked out of the window at the group. Many of them were on the other side, but… something was wrong.

There was assorted metal thrown about everywhere. Zim slowly walked forward and looked down at the remains of his one Earthling companion. "G-gir?" Zim asked softly as he looked down.

Red leaned into Purple's ear and whispered, "Is Zim actually going to get upset over the loss of his SIR unit?"

"I think GIR was Zim's only friend," Purple said, chuckling.

Red chuckled along with him.

Skoodge came running out of the special exit and ran towards Zim. "Is everyone okay?"

Zim waited a short amount of time for Skoodge to be in range and then grabbed him by the collar of his uniform. "No, everyone is definitely _NOT _okay. How would you feel if your entire body was thrown into the smasher, stupid fat irken?" Zim began moving Skoodge over to the smasher.

Skoodge was undeniably scared as he tried to squirm free of Zim's tight grip.

"Zim, stop!" Dib yelled. "We need as many people to get out of this place alive. And killing Skoodge out of rage for destroying GIR isn't worth it."

Zim fumed for a bit before allowing Skoodge to drop to the floor. Skoodge quickly ran over to Tac, who immediately pushed him to the side.

He turned around and it was as if his entire demeanor changed in only a few moments. He 'marched' past Dib and said, "I wasn't actually going to throw Skoodge in. I wasn't even mad; I was just showing off Zim's _AMAZING _acting skills, and Skoodge was my faithful subject. What kind of irken would I be if I had some kind of attachment to a sentient robot who never listened to what I said and turned out to be an okay companion that I could talk about stuff with and would never make fun of me for it? How _silly_ of Dib for ever thinking that!"

Dib simply stared at Zim in confusion as he walked by him. Skoodge went to Dib's side for a brief moment and asked, "Do you believe Zim for even a second that he's not upset?"

"Are you kidding?" Dib asked. "Even I haven't made Zim that angry. Well… I have, but not in a really long time."

"I think someone should do something about it," Skoodge said.

"I agree," Dib said. "That looked scary, and I don't want Zim to threaten anyone else with the… Smasher."

"Thank you," Skoodge said. "I'm going to stop myself from having a squiddlyspoodge attack." He then walked away, making sure to keep his distance from the rest of the group.

Dib was beginning to get a bit stressed-out, because it was already the beginning of the deterioration of the group. Zim was upset and Skoodge was scared. He was just glad that Gaz and his father were managing well and didn't ask him too many questions. Instead, Professor Membrane took to studying the area, seeing if there was another exit. Though, it proved to have no luck.

Dib sighed. He looked around and walked forward to talk to Zim. Especially since no one else was going to do it.

"Hey, Zim," Dib said.

Zim looked at Dib and then looked forward again. "What is it, Dib? I _have_ to concentrate if I'm ever going to develop a plan on how to get out of here. Wouldn't you rather have that, stupid human?"

"I would rather have that," Dib said. "But there isn't any point in doing that right now. My dad has been expecting the whole house so far and there has been no means of escape. All we have to do for now is go through it and see what we can find."

"And _what?_" Zim exclaimed. "Have another incident like the one that just have happened? Have someone else's life, including my own, be at risk simply because you're willing to give up on finding another route out of here?"

"I thought you didn't care about GIR," Dib said, immediately regretting it.

Zim stopped in his tracks. Dib thought he saw a twitch in Zim's right eye before he continued moving forward again. "I don't. I just feel that he would have been a worthy companion that could help with things in the future as we progress through this house. He may not be smart but he is our one bit of technology."

"Yeah, I don't believe that for a second," Dib said as he ran after him.

"Then you're a fool," Zim said. "A stupid, foolish fool. Why do you even care anyways, Dib-worm? Zim can take care of himself."

"Because I care about the sanity of this group," Dib said. "All of this is connected to me somehow and I feel that I need to lead everyone out of here, or it's all going to be my fault."

"Well, then." Zim pressed his head up against Dib's. "Lead and stay out of my personal irken business."

Zim pressed on, leaving Dib confused. He stopped for a few moments until he could hear a voice from behind him. "You know you're wasting your time, right?"

Dib turned around and noticed Gaz walk up from behind him. "What did you say?"

"I said you're wasting your time," she said, crossing her arms. "I've known you and Dib for too long to not know your habits. Do you _really_ think that you can get through to him that easily?"

"Well… no," Dib said.

"Then what are you trying to do?" Gaz asked.

"Well, what do you think I should?" he responded. "Because I'm trying to keep this group together, and so far, we have left one human behind and our only form of sentient technology is now destroyed. I'm not doing such a good job."

"Just… do nothing," Gaz said.

"What, you want me to give up?" Dib asked, a bit aghast.

"Nooooo. I said do nothing, as in, do nothing. If you freak out like you always do, all you get is a bunch of dead people… and you freaking out. And I'm in no mood to deal with your stupidity."

"So… let things take their course?" Dib asked.

Gaz nodded. "You just need to stop thinking for two seconds. Your thoughts make you stupid." Gaz walked forward, ending the conversation right there.

Dib didn't know how he felt about Gaz's advice, but he felt that it was worth a try. Otherwise, he would just stick with his failing plan, and he felt that that wasn't an option. He went through the group and went back to the lead where Zim was.

"Everything okay?" Dib asked with a monotone voice.

"Yep," Zim responded with a similar tone.

"Still looking for a way out?"

"Nope. No point."

"Good."

Dib and Zim pressed forward and eventually made it to the next door at the end of the hall. The pounding sounds of the smasher was starting to become faint and the room grew silent other than various chatter amongst the group.

Dib opened the door and, unlike last time, he wasn't as shocked or disturbed. What he found was the entrance to a giant maze.

"A… maze?" Zim asked. "What's the challenge in that? What are they going to do? Bore us to death?"

"There's always a catch to this," Dib said. He walked forward and noticed a sign right before the entrance to the maze. He looked at it and read it aloud:

_Working together to keep each other alive is the best way to understand what teamwork. However, everything needs a leader._

_Can someone lead a whole team through a maze… of turrets?_

"A maze of turrets?" Red asked.

"How are we supposed to get past that?" Purple asked. "Especially as a team."

"I can figure something out," Dib said. "But I'll lead us through and I'll make sure none of us get shot."

"No, allow me," Tak said as she stepped forward. "We may not have our technology, but I understand how turrets work. I can maneuver past them and disarm them so that they don't fire on us."

"No, way!" Zim exclaimed. "If I can't even trust stupid _Skoodge_ with pressing a simple button, then I definitely can't trust you with disarming turrets for us."

"Excuse me?" Tak asked, butting heads with Zim. "I'll have you know that I am a master at this since I actually excelled at the Academy, unlike you. And I also understand the idea of keeping you all around to make things easier for me, even if I think I can do this all by myself."

"_See!_ Untrustworthy!" Zim exclaimed.

"Zim, stop," Dib said. "I… I think we should trust her."

"What?" Zim asked. "Oh, I see. You still have feelings for her human form or something."

"Ew, _gross!"_ Dib and Tak yelled. "There is no way I'd even think about being with a person like _Tak._"

"Then, why?!" Zim asked.

"Because I want to be alive, and I want everyone else to be alive. And we're going to just have to trust everyone, okay?"

Zim thought for a moment then groaned. "Oh, _fine!_" Zim exclaimed. "But that's because I trust you, Dib. Otherwise, I'd be leading."

"Whatever," Tak said. "Let's go."

Tak took the lead of the group. Before turning the first corner, she stealthily maneuvered against the wall and scouted out the area. When she saw that everything was clear, she gestured for the group to move forward.

Tak continued to do this trend and the group was moving along. She was beginning to understand the pattern of the maze. There weren't too many paths to choose from, but most of the wrong paths meant getting shot by a sentry. Without Tak's help, it would have been a lot of trial and error.

A lot of fatal trial and error.

They kept moving for another ten minutes until Tak came across a corner. She clung to the wall and scouted the area. She saw one path led to a turret and the two other paths were empty. She avoided the "guarded" path.

Before Tak could yell out to the rest of the group to come towards her, she heard a metallic "whirring" sound from behind him. She immediately turned around and noticed that one of the empty paths turned out to have a sentry in it. Before the sentry began to fire, Tak managed to roll out of the hallway. She rolled forward as the sentry shot at where she used to be. The few bullets that shot managed to miss Tak by a couple of centimeters. She could even feel one of the bullets land right next to her foot. She noticed the ferocity and power of the bullets. One bullet could do severe damage.

Tak ran back to the group and led them down the right hallway.

"Aw…" Zim said, almost seeming sad before his entire demeanor changed and began looking angry. "I thought you got _shot!_"

"I wouldn't give you the pleasure," Tak said as she kept moving forward. "Let's keep moving."

Zim rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but chuckle. He knew that in some sadistic way, some of his insults were in jest.

The group finally turned a corner and they finally saw something that they hoped for. "Ah, retribution," Tak said as she looked down the long hallway towards the exit. "I told you all that you could trust me to get you through. I even risked my own antennae in order to save yours. You should thank me."

"Eh, don't get your hopes up," Dib said. "We're not out yet."

"Thank you for the optimism, stupid human," Tak said as she walked forward.

That was when all of them simultaneously heard the trademark whirring sound of the turret. It was coming up from behind them and it was targeting the final hallway. They were down it so far that they only had to options.

Run.

Or get shot.

"Run!" Dib exclaimed. Dib, Zim, and Tak led the pack down the hallway, running as fast as they could. They managed to make it out of the maze before they heard the turret begin to fire, but that meant that… someone else didn't quite make it.

Dib and Zim quickly turned around as they heard the faint screams of the house's next victim. Several shot wounds and drops of blood on the ground. Someone else was going to die…


	5. Hanging Chains

Good Fortune

Chapter 5 – Hanging Chains

They all simultaneously heard the trademark whirring sound of the turret. It was coming up from behind them and it was targeting the final hallway. They were down it so far that they only had two options.

Run.

Or get shot.

"Run!" Dib exclaimed. Dib, Zim, and Tak led the pack down the hallway, running as fast as they could. They managed to make it out of the maze before they heard the turret begin to fire, but that meant that… someone else didn't quite make it.

Dib and Zim quickly turned around as they heard the faint screams of the house's next victim. Several shot wounds and drops of green blood were on the ground.

Red was laying on the floor, the sentry finishing with its dirty work before hiding itself behind the wall again.

All of the irkens eyes shot open as they saw their Tallest lying on the ground. "My Tallest!" Zim exclaimed as he ran up to aid his fallen leader. He had already lost Gir. He wasn't prepared to lose anyone else.

Purple ran forward as well. Since he had longer legs, he managed to beat Zim, Tak, and Skoodge to Red's body. He turned to them and hissed. Tears were flooding his eyes. "All of you STAND BACK. If any of you get any closer to Red right now, I will make _certain_ that you get thrown at the turret and shot to bits. Do I make myself clear?"

Tak, Skoodge, and Zim nodded, taking several steps back to give Red and Purple some much-needed space.

Purple knelt down to Red's head. "R-red. Heh, you're going to be okay, alright? Just wake up for a second and we'll make sure you get out of here safe and sound."

Red didn't move. It was clear that he was no longer alive. The bullets were too powerful and he was hit with too many of them. "R-red? Come on…" Purple shook Red a little, getting a bit doused in his blood. His tears were slowly falling to the ground and Purple was becoming a mix of upset and irritated. He grimaced and yelled, "Red, if you're pulling a prank on me like you always do, I'll make sure it doesn't end well for you!"

"M-my Tallest?" Tak asked in the most sincere voice that anyone had ever heard.

Purple quickly turned around and glared at Tak. "What?!"

"My Tallest Purple… I'm afraid Tallest Red has… passed on."

Purple launched himself at Tak and yelled, "You think I don't know that, huh?! You think I'm stupid or something, Tak."

"I'm not satisfied by what has happened either, but there is _nothing_ we can do about it," Tak said, matching Purple's glare. "Red's PAK has been shot several times. It's irreparable. Now, I suggest you pull yourself together and accept Tallest Red as another casualty of this demented house. It's what he would've wanted, and it'll help us get out of here."

Zim balled up his fists. "How _dare_ you talk to the Tallest like that?"

Tak growled and turned to face Zim. "I'm just giving our leader a little bit of perspective, you filthy low-life." She slowly walked over to Zim while also saying, "But here, if you would like to get involved, you banished cretin, then I will be more than happy to involve you. Trust me, it will not end well for you."

"I'm not _trying _to get involved with your _stupid _irken plan, Tak," Zim said, getting in Tak's face. "And stop called me a banished cretin. It implies that _Zim_ was brought to Earth as an act of banishment when that is _FAR _from the truth."

"Don't lie to yourself, Zim," Purple said.

Zim turned to Purple and frowned. "Uh… w-what do you mean, my Tallest?"

Purple ignored Zim for a moment and turned to Tak. "Tak, you are correct in saying that Red would like me to move forward and save myself, but… I think he would like to relay one last message before he left." He walked over to Zim finally and…

Pushed him over. He looked down at Zim's shocked body and said, "You were sent to Earth as an act of banishment. Your role in the first operation was sick and degrading to the irken name, so we had to do something with you if you weren't going to stay on Foodcourtia." Purple didn't even wait for Zim to respond to him. He left to move on to the next room, and Skoodge and Tak followed closely behind him.

Dib looked at Zim and was almost shocked by the mix of emotions that had been thrown in just a few moments. One of Zim's leaders was just killed in cold blood and he was just told by his other leader that all of his mission on Earth was a complete lie. And… to top it all off, Zim was beginning to show signs of… crying.

Dib frowned, completely disheartened by all that had just happened. He turned to his Dad and Gaz. "You two go on ahead without me," he explained. "Wait for me and Zim when the next trap starts. Do everything in your power to stop all of the irkens if they decide to do things without us and leave us all behind."

"Son, I think you should come with us," Professor Membrane said in a mellow voice. "I'm afraid… I'm afraid I won't be as much help as I normally am without technology and science to help me."

"You'll be fine," Dib said. "Gaz should have an extensive knowledge on irken life. I only bothered her about it a hundred times."

"A hundred times is modest," Gaz said blankly before grabbing onto her father's hand and making sure that he went with Dib's plan.

Dib sighed. "Thank you, Gaz." He then slowly went over to Zim, afraid for what might happen. He knelt down next to him and said, "Zim?"

"W-what do you want?" Zim asked with a quivering voice. "Are you here to rub it in Zim's face that he is an entire _fool_? That he wasn't even competent enough to get his own planet to invade with the acknowledgement of his one alive, one dead Tallest? Because _Zim_ _can't handle it right now!_" He rolled to his side, facing away from Dib for a moment.

Dib sighed. "Zim, shut up," he said coldly. "Everyone has been telling you since almost day one that you weren't truly an invader, and you didn't listen to any of them. I've replayed enough of your transmissions to know that your Tallests have been playing you for a sap this entire time."

"I…" Zim couldn't handle much of it. He turned around and faced Dib. "Zim couldn't handle the truth. I _admit_ it! I _always_ wanted to be an invader who was special in the eyes of the Tallest. Are you happy now?!"

Dib shook his head. "No… and yes." Dib tried something and grabbed Zim's hands, though Zim instinctively took his hands away from them. He sighed. "Okay… Zim, we can discuss your whole invader status thing when we get out of here alive."

Zim was slowly recovering on the outside, though he was still in incredible emotional pain on the inside. "What makes you so sure, stupid human?" Zim asked. "My Tallest Purple is unstable and Tak and Skoodge are probably going to be under him, leaving you and your pathetic human family to fend for themselves."

Dib shook his head. "No, because… we have you, too. And we'll convince Purple to suck it up. He's going to have to, or he's going to end up dead, too. You wouldn't want two dead leaders, would you?"

Zim shook his head. "Zim doesn't have any leaders anymore. I think that part is clear now." He stood up. "But… I want to get out of here. Not only for my life, but to make a point."

Dib stood up with Zim. "Good, and _I'll_ help you," he said in his normal confident voice.

"Eeeeh." Zim looked at Dib. "Sure, you can help. But _stay out_ of Zim's way while you do so." He marched forward.

Dib didn't know if he was imagining it or not, but he felt that Zim's words were a bit more… sincere that time. Though, he was sure that that was what he wanted to hear. He shook his head and ran up to Zim, and they both eventually reached the end of the pack.

They opened the door and saw… something they didn't quite expect. The irkens… were actually interacting with the humans.

"What's going on here?" Dib asked.

Professor Membrane turned to Dib and grinned brightly. "Son, why didn't you tell me these Tak and Tall Purple fellows had an extensive background of science and technology?"

"I must agree that this is perhaps the smartest human I have ever talked to," Tak said.

"We're much smarter than him," Purple said, still recovering. "But yeah. Kinda smart."

Zim and Dib looked at each other. "How long were we away?" Zim asked. "Because I believe that door led to a wormhole where irkens get along with someone other than their own race."

"I have no idea," Dib said. "But I'm going to cherish it for now. I don't know about you, but something tells me that it might not last that long."

"Zim thinks the same way, too."

"Alright," Dib said. "Let's figure out what this room is about." He stepped forward and everyone followed closely behind him. There was a sign, like normal, that explained the effect of this room.

_Losing a companion is tough. Losing a companion's ability is tougher. One has to be willing to make a sacrifice in order to support the rest of the group._

"What does that even mean?" Dib whispered to himself. The room seemed fairly simple to Dib, but there was one key problem. There was a hole in the center of the room, and the only way to get to the other side of that hole was by swinging from multiple chains that hung from the ceiling. The problem was that the chains were far too high for anyone to reach.

"We have to find a way to get those chains _down_," Zim said as he followed Dib's gaze.

"Dib, look over there," Gaz said, pointing to everyone's right.

Dib turned around and followed to where Gaz was pointing. There was a small tunnel embedded into the wall with a sign above it stating 'Go to the other side; lower the chains'.

"Well, that seems simple enough," Skoodge said.

"I doubt that's it," Dib said. Dib knelt down next to the duct and grimaced at what he saw. "There are sharp edges throughout this entire tunnel. Anyone who crawls through will definitely get pricked all-around."

Zim sighed. "In this case, Zim would've sent out GIR to do his dirty work."

Dib shot a look at Zim and said, "Let's not worry about that now." He sighed. "I'll go through the tunnel. I think I've taken enough beatings, so it won't be too bad."

Professor Membrane shook his head and said, "No, son. I can't allow you to hurt yourself like that. Besides, I have more faith that you can swing across those chains better than I can."

"Thanks, Dad…" Dib said. In truth, he felt that he would fare better with the spiked tunnel than the chains, but he didn't want to risk losing his father quite yet.

Professor Membrane slowly crawled into the duct. As soon as he was inside, a small door was closed immediately shut. He wasn't allowed to turn back and change his mind, and no one else was allowed to take the "easy route".

As he made it through, it was clear whenever he hit something sharp, because he would let out a low grunt. After less than a minute, he appeared on the other side of the room. It was clear there was blood on his hands and knees, and there were a few tears in his clothes. Though, he seemed to walk fairly fine after that. He went over to the controls, and lowered the chains for the rest of the group.

"Alright, Zim," Dib said. "We'll go first."

Before anyone could protest, Zim already jumped onto the chain and was flinging himself to the next chain. Dib had to admit that Zim was fairly nimble for his height, which gave him confidence. Dib knew that he was just as nimble as Zim was. He clung onto the first chain and went to the next, slower than Zim. He was getting a bit of anxiety, but he didn't allow that to make him stop. He shot forward to the third chain, then the fourth. Then the last two, before finally touching down on the other side of the room.

He let out a sigh of relief and said, "Alright. Get over here. Please don't slip and die."

Tak rolled her eyes. "Yes, thank you for the incredible encouragement."

The remaining three irkens and Gaz took on the chains, though… as the story had been told in many of the previous rooms, one person didn't quite make it to the other side. Their screams echoed as they fell down the hole and then were eventually silenced with a subtle thud.

**Who fell off of the chains? Skoodge, Purple, Gaz, or Tak? It's your choice! Comment on this chapter and vote on who falls! Find out the results on Monday!**


	6. Computer Room

Good Fortune

Chapter 6 – Computer Room

The remaining three irkens and Gaz took on the chains. Though… as the story had been told in many of the previous rooms, one person didn't quite make it to the other side.

Tak fumbled around with the chain that she was holding on to, but it wasn't enough to keep her from slipping. Her screams echoed as she fell down the hole and then was eventually silenced with a subtle thud.

Skoodge, Zim, and Purple gasped as they looked down the hole. Neither one of them had any special connection with Tak, but she was a decent voice of reason. Though… Zim was somewhat glad that she was gone. She was, after all, the bringer of bad news just a few minutes ago. He felt, in a sense of revenge, Tak got what was coming to her.

"Well… that's another one down," Zim said, turning around.

"Wait, what?" Purple said, before going after Zim. "That's all you have to say?"

"What else is there to say, my Tallest?" Zim asked as he faced his leader. "Zim has watched many of his _faithful_ allies fall to the hands of this house. I will not allow it to make me weak or emotional."

"Oh, and those who do get upset about their friends dying are weak and emotional, huh?" Purple asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"Eh… well, I don't mean _you,_ my Tallest," Zim said, trying to rectify the situation. "You are a strong leader and I'm sure you were very close to Tak and ex-Tallest Red."

Purple picked Zim up by his uniform and brought him close to his face. He said, "Call him ex-Tallest Red one more time, and I will end you." He tossed Zim to the side and continued moving forward. Skoodge followed closely behind, actually being happy that he was the favorite invader… even though that there were only two invaders left.

Zim was shocked. He expected this to happen, but he didn't feel like his entire world would crumble so quickly. Not only had he lost the title as an invader, but he had lost even the small ounce of respect that his Tallest had for him.

He simply laid on the ground for a moment, staring up at the ceiling.

Dib approached him and sat down. "Hey."

"Hey," Zim said in response with a dead tone. "What do you want?"

"I just want to talk, I guess," Dib said.

"Then talk," Zim said, not even trying to raise his voice like he normally would.

"Okay," Dib said. "Ever since I was a little kid, I was always getting picked on for what I believed in. Even with a cool scientist dad that was known worldwide, I was always known as the outcast Membrane that nobody wanted to associate with."

"I sense this is a story to try to make me feel better," Zim said. "And it's not working."

"Well, let me make my point," Dib said. "I didn't need those non-believers and you don't need Purple, or even Skoodge. They just… they don't realize the potential you have."

Zim finally shifted his view to Dib and asked, "Okay, Zim understands the moral of the story. But why do you even try? Have you forgotten that we are mortal enemies and our sheer goal is to get in each other's ways?"

"After what you've been through, do you really want that to continue?" Dib asked.

Zim thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Ehhh… nah. I think in the past few months, Zim has been getting bored of destroying the Dib-stink. This just puts the icing on the doughnut."

"It's… icing on the cake."

Zim stared at Dib. "What kind of stupid earthling saying is that?"

Dib chuckled. "Don't worry about it. It's dumb."

"Fine." Zim sat up and looked at Dib. He looked at the floor and said in a low whisper, "Thanksforbeingnicetome."

Dib cocked his head to the side. "What did you say?"

"Thanksforbeingnicetome," Zim said in a slightly louder voice.

Dib smiled, thinking he got it altogether. "One more time."

Zim growled. "Thanks for being nice to me."

"You're welcome," Dib said, smiling. "Now, let's press forward. We're still going to have to work together, but try not to butt heads with Purple anymore."

Zim rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, whatever. It's only common irken sense to not mess with a Tallest."

"Yeah, and what have you been doing?" Dib asked, making fun of Zim.

Zim gave Dib a straight face. "Shut up." Zim began walking forward.

Dib chuckled and whispered to himself, "Hm, I knew there was a reason why I had a thing for you."

"What was that?" a voice said from behind Dib.

Dib quickly turned around to see his sister. "Gaz?"

"I asked you a question," Gaz said. "What did you say?"

"N-nothing," Dib said, crossing his arms.

Gaz crossed her arms. "I just wanted to make sure." She began walking forward. "He probably likes you, too."

Dib looked down at the ground, processing what Gaz just said. "… Wait, what?" He ran up to Gaz. "What are you talking about?"

"You like the stupid alien kid, don't you?"

"I thought you said you didn't hear me," Dib said.

"Never said that, did I?" Gaz asked. "I've heard enough of your stupid alien talk to start putting the pieces together."

"What do you think I should do, then?" Dib asked. "Wait, never mind. Why am I even asking? Now's not the time."

Gaz cleared her throat and grunted. "Maybe you should ask yourself that everytime you're about to ask a stupid question."

"Whatever, Gaz," Dib said, rolling his eyes.

There was a slight lull in the conversation until Gaz eventually spoke up. "You should probably speak up about your feelings before the person you care about ends up falling down a pit."

"You sound like you speak from experience," Dib said, thinking for a moment.

"Yeah, sure," Gaz said apathetically before walking ahead of Dib. Dib stared at something that Gaz was twiddling between her fingers. It was a small piece of purple fabric. Dib was curious about it and he knew it looked familiar, but he didn't think too much of it. It seemed important to Gaz and to her alone.

Dib pressed forward, making sure that he got to the lead of the pack again. He knew that he himself would not leave the group behind, making him a more formidable leader. He just didn't trust the others, namely Skoodge and especially Purple.

As Dib made it to the front, he felt someone pulling him back. He turned around and noticed Purple towering over him with Skoodge at his side. They were the last two people that he wanted to talk to, but he didn't have much choice.

"You don't have a plan, do you?" Purple asked, still maintaining his stern look.

"There's no point in making one in detail," Dib said. "There's no alternative way of getting out of here, so the only way we can go is forward. The only plan at the moment is to simply survive and see if we can make it out of here with our sanity."

"That doesn't seem very likely," Skoodge said.

"Don't worry," Dib said. "I'll figure something out, I promise. Just for right now, let's not get too antsy with each other, okay?"

Purple crossed his arms. "What Zim did was unforgivable."

"I don't care," Dib said. "You could very much be next. Either that, or none of us will be next if we work together to make sure that everyone gets past these traps safely."

"What makes you so sure of that?" Skoodge asked. "We've already lost 4 people, one of which we didn't even have a choice but to leave behind."

"I'm not sure…" Dib said with a sigh. "Can you both just… at least stick with a positive mindset for now? We're in a bad situation, but it's only going to get worse if all you think about is who died and who's going to die."

"That's a rather sick way of thinking," Purple said. He paused for a moment. "Maybe you're more like an irken than I thought you were." He walked past Dib and Skoodge.

"What just happened?" Dib asked.

"I think he just found some respect for you," Skoodge said.

"Should I be flattered?"

"I'm actually a little bit jealous," Skoodge admitted.

"Hm… I work hard to forget about a Tallest's death and I get respect. Zim works hard to impress the Tallest and he gets banished."

"Irkens live in a backwards world," Skoodge explained. "You humans wouldn't quite understand." He put his hands behind his back before running up to walk with Purple some more. Skoodge was still holding out for that little bit of respect as well.

Dib rolled his eyes. But he did have to admit that irkens had quite a few things backwards, but in some respects, they weren't all that different. He led the pack again, and opened the door for the rest of them to walk through.

The next room looked a lot like Zim's underground labs if they were well-lit.

"This… seems complicated," Dib said.

Though, the rest of the irkens didn't think the same way. They had a lot more experience with technology of this scale, though… there was something different about it.

"My Tallest… when do you suppose this house was built?" Skoodge asked.

"If I were being totally irrational, I'd say centuries ago," Purple said as he looked at the ancient technology. "If I were being rational… I'd say centuries ago."

"None of you recognize this technology, do you?" Skoodge asked.

Purple and Zim shook their heads.

"Maybe I can take a crack at it," Professor Membrane said. "It wouldn't be the first time learning a foreign technology."

"Hang on, Dad," Dib said. "We need to figure what we even need to do in this room." He stepped forward and looked around. The main things that he noticed was that the room was split into three segments: the entrance with several old irken consoles, then there is a glass barrier with a door that led into a mid-sized chamber that led to the exit. Upon inspection, the chamber had holes in the ground. "I bet you that those holes have some hidden surprises for us… like turrets."

"There's a sign on the door, Dib-human," Zim said, pointing up to it.

Dib went over to look at it. "Hm…"

_Discovering something new is better than trying something old._

"What kind of cryptic nonsense is that?" Purple asked.

"I don't know. But you and my dad need to figure out what these computers do. I'm not stepping into that room until I have a decent idea that I'm not going to get shot."

Purple and Professor Membrane nodded. Neither of them figured that they would be ordered around by a little kid, but they knew that Dib's words had been coherent up to that point. They went to the console and began playing around with some of the buttons until the computers finally turned on.

As soon as they did, a chain reaction occurred. A bunch of turrets and bladed weapons popped out of the holes in the next room. "I knew it," Dib said. "You guys are in complete control of everything that goes on in the next room. And it could clearly end up deadly if you mess it up."

"Yeah, but I don't know what I'm looking at," Purple said, looking at the many screens. He messed with a few buttons and played with a couple joysticks.

Professor Membrane studied Purple's actions and how the room next-door reacted to them. Turrets and sawblades would shut off at a certain pattern.

After several minutes, Purple finally said, "I give up. I don't get it."

"I do," Professor Membrane said. "Do you mind if I give it a try?"

Purple winced. "We're putting our lives in your hands?"

Professor Membrane nodded. "Just trust me."

"Fine," Purple said, crossing his arms. "I will not appreciate getting shot, though." Everyone got in position in front of the door.

"It's like one big puzzle," Professor Membrane whispered to himself. He pressed one joystick, then another to the side, then pressed a few buttons. Soon, he was blindly putting in a special command to shut off all of the turrets and the sawblades.

Dib watched through the glass to see his dad's handywork and was awe-struck when the last turret finally went back down into the ground. "Dad, that was amazing!" he exclaimed.

"You can thank me later," Professor Membrane said, walking to the rest of the group. "None of us understand this technology, so it's best we move quickly before these things pop up again randomly."

"I agree," Purple said.

Dib and Zim nodded. They opened the door and walked through. Then came Professor Membrane, then Gaz, Skoodge, and Purple were last. Professor Membrane, Dib, and Zim managed to make it to the end and open the door. Though… opening the door triggered another reaction.

**Unknown command used. Resetting system in 3 seconds.**

Dib's heart leapt out of his chest as he practically dragged Zim and his dad through the door with him. He then pleaded that Skoodge, Purple, and Gaz would be fast enough to get through the door within the three seconds.

Though… based off the sounds of turrets and yells that came next, he knew that he was incorrect. He didn't want to listen, because then he would know who the house's next victim was.


	7. The Split Smeet Room

Good Fortune

Chapter 7 – The Split Smeet Room

**Unknown command used. Resetting system in 3 seconds.**

Dib's heart leapt out of his chest as he practically dragged Zim and his dad through the door with him. He then pleaded that Skoodge, Purple, and Gaz would be fast enough to get through the door within the three seconds.

Though… based off the sounds of turrets and yells that came next, he knew that he was incorrect. He didn't want to listen, because then he would know who the house's next victim was.

That notion didn't take very long as he heard Purple and Zim say "Skoodge". They, of course, did not get a response. Dib turned around and saw that Skoodge was now laying face first in a puddle of his own blood. It was gruesome and it was beginning to make Dib feel sick to his stomach.

What made him feel even worse was how easily everything was forgotten. Purple and Zim left Skoodge's side without saying another word. He knew that Skoodge wasn't exactly popular amongst the irkens, but he felt like he didn't get quite enough justice. "Aren't you guys going to say something?"

Purple shook his head. "No. It's like you said, right? He would've wanted us to move forward and save ourselves."

Dib sighed, knowing that he felt a bit like a hypocrite if he were to deny Purple's words. "Yeah, you're right. But can we just stop for a minute and figure something out."

"No," Purple said again. "We need to keep moving. Otherwise they're going to find new ways to kill us before we can find an exit to this blasted place."

"I actually agree with Dib here," Zim said. "All of these _stupid_ traps have taken a victim and Zim is not going to take it any longer. We _must_ make a plan in order to survive."

Dib softly said 'thank you' to Zim before turning back to the group. "Yeah, what he said. Also, we just need to take a breather for a second. We're down to only five people, meaning we have lost half of our group… and I'm hoping it'll stay that way."

"Well, that's dandy and all," Purple said, crossing his arms. "But it's not like we can prepare for these traps. The only reason that everyone died so far was that they were either the last one and were really unlucky or they were just plain weak."

"Yeah, but there's a pattern to these things," Dib said. "Don't you find it at all strange that only one of us dies in each of these traps? Not two, not three, not all of us. Just one. And this is despite us being to the best of our abilities."

"What are you getting at?" Purple asked.

"Yes, son. Get to your point. We're wasting valuable time."

"Fine," Dib said. "Maybe this is happening to us for a reason. Most of these rooms have given us a lesson in order for us to work together and to find what connects us that didn't connect us before."

"Oh, yes. That _must_ be it," Purple said. "Only… the consequence for failing is death. What kind of stupid, sadistic thing is that?"

"It doesn't make very much sense to me, either," Zim said. "Zim has _plenty_ of experience with teamwork. Why would he have to risk himself in order to learn it again?"

"Stop being stupid, Zim," Purple said.

Dib rolled his eyes. "Let's not fight. Honestly, Purple. You're in a situation where you could potentially be dead in the next couple of minutes. Do you want to spend that time butting heads with Zim?"

Purple thought for a moment. "Maybe if Zim wasn't so stupid, I wouldn't have to butt heads with him."

"That's not the point," Dib said. "Zim may be stupid, but he's trying his best to get us out of here, too."

"_HEY!_" Zim barked.

Dib looked at Zim. "I'm just trying to calm everyone down. Cool it." He looked back at Purple. "You understand what I mean?"

Purple nodded. "I do. Come on, let's just go and put your 'one death per trap' theory to the test."

Dib grimaced. "Thanks for the positivity," he said sarcastically.

"You're welcome," he said, as he walked off.

Zim looked at Dib and said, "So… the new plan is the old plan?"

Dib nodded. "Yes, but keep your eyes open. We've made it this far, we might as well get something out of this."

"Fine, but only because I trust you, stupid Earthling," Zim said. By that point, 'stupid Earthling' was practically endearing to Dib.

"Heh, fine," Dib said. "Dad, Gaz, are you two okay?"

"Couldn't be better in this circumstance, son," Professor Membrane said. "You have become an excellent leader. You aren't a scientist like me, but I'll take this as the next best thing."

"Thanks, Dad?" Dib said, confused how to react. "What about you, Gaz?"

"I'm alive," Gaz bluntly said. "I'll take what I get."

"That's the spirit," Dib said half-heartedly. "Well, let's keep moving forward. I don't trust what's ahead, so let's stay cautious."

The group nodded and began moving forward. Gaz and her father stayed together while Dib and Zim moved a bit forward.

"How do you have so much confidence?" Zim asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"You just watched half of the group get left behind and you're still managing to keep it together," Zim said.

"Um… the same way you would?" Dib said. "You are willing to kill countless humans in the invasion of Earth. How is this any different?"

"It's very different," Zim said. "I don't _know_ the stupid little humans well enough. Killing them is simply a part of an invader's job. But… losing people you know. That's hard."

"Oh…" Dib said. "Well, I guess I've been lucky. Gaz and my dad are still alive while you just lost a bunch of people from your race, including one of your leaders."

"I see," Zim said.

Dib looked at Zim and was curious. "Are you… okay?"

"Zim is _perfectly_ fine," he said, trying to keep his chin up. "Why do you ask? Did you assume that I wasn't fine? Because I am fine. Can't you tell, _stupid _human boy?"

"When will you understand that it's okay to not be fine for once," Dib said. "I understand that you irkens were made to be confident and deadly and all of that kind of stuff, but it's okay to be a little human for once."

"Why?!" Zim asked. "Because whenever I'm not fine… I don't feel that great."

"That's the point," Dib said. He grabbed onto Zim's arm. "Just… stop for a second."

Zim stopped, turning to face Dib. "What?"

"There are people who want to help you too if you feel like you're about to break down."

Zim took a deep breath in, then out. "Name one person."

"Me."

"_Lies!_" Zim exclaimed.

"Do you honestly think I'm lying? I've been telling you the same thing over and over again since we got here. Why would I keep lying to you? That's just a massive waste of my time."

"I… I don't know," Zim said. "I'm not used to the recognition. I've been away from the Massive for so long, I have mostly forgotten what it's like to be recognized as a _powerful_ invader."

"Fine, then how about we refresh your memory?" Dib asked. He stepped in front of Zim, attempting something he would've never tried before. "Punch me in the face."

"What, why?!" Zim exclaimed with a loud yell.

"You want to be recognized as a powerful invader? Punch me in the face. I'll go over there and tell Purple how you just dominated me."

Zim looked at Dib. This time, Dib could clearly tell that there was a different look in Zim's eyes. Something had clicked, and he wanted to know what it was. "Zim?"

"I'm not going to punch you in the face," Zim said.

"Why not? Don't you want to feel better?"

Zim shook his head. "No… Zim is actually feeling better already. I think I'm ready to move forward now."

"Oh… well, I actually believe you," Dib said.

"Good, you better," Zim said. "Otherwise, I'll make sure it doesn't end well for you, you sick Earth _fool!_" Zim walked forward with his arms hanging at his side. Though, there was something slightly different with each of his strides. They seemed less deliberate and more casual. One of his hands then hanged right above his chin, before falling back to his side. He was thinking about something.

This put a slight smile to Dib's face. He didn't know for sure, but he felt as if he had gotten through to Zim. He was slowly gaining the drive to get out of the strange irken house.

Dib moved to the front of the pack and led everyone to the next room. He opened the door and stepped inside. What they saw was really strange, since nothing about the next room looked entirely dangerous. Though, Dib knew better.

There were two doors: one was open and one was closed. In between them, there was the usual sign that gave them information about what was to come. Dib sighed and walked forward to read the sign like he normally would.

_Resistance to fear is an admirable trait to have. Go with those whom you are close with, and use your wits and endurance rather than your skill to make it through to the light at the end of the tunnel. You might discover more about someone in the dark than in the light._

"I don't like the sound of that," Dib said fearfully.

"Let's just figure out what's going on first," Purple said.

Professor Membrane crossed his arms and said, "Well, there's two separate sections. Each of them goes through that opening at the far end of this room." He walked forward and pushed and pulled on the closed door, seeing if it would budge. No matter what he did, it didn't move at all.

Dib approached his father and asked, "Why would they even have this area if we can't get to it?"

"Well, then I guess we should just go this way," Purple said. He walked through the open door without even a little bit of a hesitation. The moment that he was on the other side of the door, it shut right behind him. Purple quickly turned around and let out a small gasp. "Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Someone get over here and open this door for me."

"Wait!" Zim exclaimed. "Look over at the other door."

Everyone turned towards Zim and noticed that the other door was now swinging open. Dib looked at it. "Hm… I have an idea." He hesitated for a second before going into the open door. Just like it did for Purple, that door shut and the other one opened. "Yeah, that's what I thought. It's trying to split us into two groups. Three on that side and two on this side."

"So someone has to join Dib, and the other two has to join me," Knuckles explained.

"Exactly," Zim said. "I knew that all along." He looked at both groups, and knew that one would clearly be more favorable for him. "I'll go with the Dib-human. You two can fend for yourselves with my Tallest."

"We would like to stay with our kind, thank you very much," Gaz said without flinching.

Dib shook his head. "No, I agree with Zim. Dad, you seem to work better with Purple and you're pretty fearless. You too, Gaz. Zim and I will be able to run out of this together just fine, and we'll be able to see if we can help you guys from the other side."

Professor Membrane nodded. "That doesn't exactly make sense, but I'd rather not make a fuss. We'll make this quick." Professor Membrane entered the door, opening the other door for Zim to join Dib.

Once everyone entered their respective doors, Dib turned to the other group. "Alright, you three please be careful while you're in there. Based on what I read in the sign, you're going to want to keep your guard up."

"Just watch your own back," Gaz said. "We'll be fine."

"Fine…" Dib said. "Let's go, Zim."

Zim nodded and followed Dib into the next room. Immediately as they stepped in and closed the door, they realized why they would be fearful. It was dark, though there was enough light to see what was going on. Dib and Zim looked around, occasionally stepping on objects as they explored.

Zim picked up one of them and examined it for a moment. "It looks like one of the toys that the little smeets would play with." He tossed it and he could hear it bounce against the ground.

"Yeah, this place looks a bit like a… kid's room." He looked along the walls and there were little drawings that glowed a bit so they could see them.

"Dib-worm, look over there!" Zim exclaimed as he pointed to the wall.

Dib looked towards where Zim was pointing. It was very faint, but it was slowly coming into view. Someone (or something) was drawing on the walls. Dib couldn't make it out at first, but the blue markings made it very clear for him at the end. "They're drawing little… water droplets?"

Almost as if the words triggered it, a slight sound of a drip could be heard in the background. It was a bit of a nuisance to Dib, but it wasn't meant for him.

Zim had been clenching teeth, letting out grunts of discomfort every time he heard a water droplet hit the ground. "_Dib!_ They're dropping water on our heads. What do we do?"

"What, no they aren't," Dib said. "They're just playing some water droplets sound effect in the background."

"Then maybe it's dry where you are," Zim said as he ran towards Dib and collided with him. The force was too much for Dib and he toppled over.

"Zim!" Dib exclaimed.

Zim quickly threw himself off of Dib as he went around the room. "The water is now everywhere!"

Dib was confused, but he definitely heard that the sound of water was quickening. Even if he knew it wasn't there, the feeling of water brushed up against his feet. There was something in the room that was causing the both of them to hallucinate. Dib managed to be fine, because he didn't have a fear of water, but Zim legitimately believed that he was burning from the "water".

Dib ran towards him, barely seeing his silhouette in the darkness. He gently placed his hand on Zim's shaking body. "Zim, it _isn't_ real. You have to believe me! There is no water in this room. They're just trying to trick you."

"_No,_ you're just fool me. It's not going to work," Zim said. "I should've known that you wanted to do this to me."

"Zim, you don't know what you're talking about," Dib said. "It's me, Dib. The guy you just talked to just a few minutes ago. Don't you trust me?"

Zim breathed in heavily, a slight scream coming from his mouth. "I-… I trust you. But I don't trust _that!_"

Dib turned around to see what Zim was referring to, and he was certain that he saw a giant monster standing in front of them. Dib gasped. He took several steps back, taking Zim with him. The monster was at least three times his height and several times his girth. There was no way that either he or Zim would be able to take him on.

"Dib, what do we do?" Zim asked.

"I don't know!" Dib exclaimed, his heart rate going up. He was looking for a separate exit plan… when he realized something. "This… this isn't real. You aren't real. You're just a figment of my imagination."

"What are you doing?!" Zim exclaimed. "That's not going to do anything."

"Just trust me," Dib said. "Follow my lead."

Zim groaned. "For your sake, I hope you're not right." He pointed menacingly to the beast and said, "You're not real. Zim despises you for fooling him!"

And… almost through some kind of magic the beast had disappeared. Dib didn't realize that it was going to be that simple. But that wasn't the only thing gone. The water droplets had ceased and everything was officially silent again.

Then they heard a click… and they noticed a quick change. A glow in the shape of a door slowly appeared in the darkness. There exit had faintly arrived. Dib helped Zim out of the corner and they slowly walked towards the door and opened it.

They blinked and waited for their eyes to once again adjust to the blinding light. Once they did, they realized that they were finally out of the room and had successfully made it to the other side. Dib sighed with delight.

"Oh… oh, wow," Zim said with a heavy breath. "Maybe you are smarter than I thought you were."

Dib took a deep breath in. "Heh, thank you. I guess. I was just taking a leap of faith, and it somehow managed to work. Something tells me that they were feeding some kind of chemical in that room that caused us to have hallucinations."

"And when we believed they weren't real," Zim said. "Then there was nothing to hallucinate about."

"Exactly."

Zim sighed. "If you tell anyone about how I freaked out and told you that you were right, I'm going to shove you back in that room and lock the door."

"You got it," Dib said, chuckling.

Dib and Zim pulled themselves together and waited for the other three to make it out of the room. They didn't wait very long for the door to open and slam shut behind them.

Two of them were breathing heavily while a third was being dragged the hem of their clothes.

"W-what happened?" Dib asked.


	8. The Balcony

Good Fortune

Chapter 8 – The Balcony

Three people exited the Smeet Room. Two of them were breathing heavily while a third was being dragged the hem of their clothes.

"W-what happened?" Dib asked. He looked at the person being dragged out and his heart officially dropped. "D-dad?"

"It was gruesome in there," Purple said as he dragged Professor Membrane over to him. "Some of the things that were shown there… it was just got to be too much. Your dad… he just dropped to the ground at the climax at it all and he hasn't gotten back up yet."

Dib quickly ran to him and dropped down to his knees. He looked down at his cold, unmoving body and slowly placed his palm over his chest. He wanted to see for sure if it was over or not. His heart beat quickened… almost as if to compensate for the lack of his father's heartbeat. Everything had ceased for Dib, and everything didn't matter for a few moments.

Once he finally brought himself back together and into reality, he looked up from his father and up to Gaz. He could clearly tell that she was shaking, and there was a bit of moisture on her face. Either they actually dropped water into Gaz's room or she had been crying. He didn't blame her, though. He was holding back several tears as he watched his father lying dead in front of him. "D-dad…"

Zim slowly approached him, Purple and Gaz moving to the side. He looked down at his once-enemy and he didn't pity him for the tears that were dropped from the moment. In fact, he actually understood what Dib was going through and actually wanted to be there for him. Though, since he was a brutal, cold irken, he had no idea how he would begin to do that. He simply just stood there and watched it all unfold.

Dib stood up and turned around. He was now crying at that point, but that didn't stop him from moving forward a few steps. "N-no… I can't do this to all of you. You all had to make sacrifices, and we had to move forward. There's no reason why I can't move forward, too."

"Dib-worm…" Zim said with a sigh. "If you want to stay here with your dad for a little bit longer, it's fine. He's the human that you've known more than anyone."

Another tear dropped down from his eye, down to his chin, and then onto the ground. He thought for a moment, thinking of going with Zim's words. Though, he wanted to get a second opinion. He turned to Gaz and said, "Gaz, you saw what happened to him and you got to watch him… go down. What do you want to do?"

Gaz looked forward broodingly. She simply stared off into space, making an effort to avoid eye contact with everyone. "I want to move forward and forget everything that just happened here ever happened. No more thoughts about these stupid traps. No more thoughts about Dad." She looked down and whispered very softly, "No more Tak."

"You just…. want to forget?" Dib asked, concerned for Gaz.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Gaz asked, getting slightly frustrated with Dib. "Take your own advice and move forward for the sake of everyone else. Otherwise, you're pulling everyone back."

Dib thought for a moment more, then nodded. "Yes, you are right. L-let's keep moving forward."

Gaz, Zim, and Purple nodded. They were now the last four survivors out of the ten that they started with. Dib wasn't sure how to feel about it, but he had learned to accept the pain. He started walking forward, this time not making the effort to talk to anyone. Not even Gaz. He knew that he would only lash out at anyone who talked stupidly to him. And he knew Gaz would only serve to bring him down.

Dib walked forward until he reached the end of the hallway. He looked at the door that separated him between the next room and noticed that it was different than the rest. There were shutters on this one and it was almost as if there was wind blowing on it. It shifted back and forth slowly, causing Dib to be curious.

He reached for the handle until he noticed the sign on the door. He read it out loud to the group:

_Ready to relax? You have 30 minutes._

"Relax?" Purple asked. "Yeah, I'm ready to relax. Move over."

"Wo, wai-," Dib said before being interrupted and pushed to the side by Purple. Purple opened the doors and went into the next room. Dib figured that it would be just a clever trap for someone who would be too gullible… like Purple. But, as soon as they saw what was on the other side, they realized it was exactly what it was supposed to be.

Dib walked out into the room… until he realized it wasn't much of a room at all. Wind brushed up against his face as he looked out into the outside.

He had walked out onto a balcony that overlooked the planet in its amazement. It was almost serene when compared to the house they had just been in.

"Wow, so this is what Irk looks like?" Dib asked. He stepped past the barrier between the door and the balcony and a sound was heard. He looked up to his right and noticed that a clock had started counting down from thirty minutes. That's all the time they had to relax.

Zim nodded. "I had almost forgotten. It's been… a long time since I've seen this planet like this."

"Perhaps because you seem to enjoy seeing it in flames rather than how it should be," Purple said as he relaxed on one of the long chairs on the balcony. Gaz took the one next to him, trying her best to relax and let the cool breeze take her for a few moments.

"Hey, Zim's like that, but that's no co-," Dib said before being interrupted.

Zim had placed his hand on Dib's shoulder and said, "Cool it, Earthling. He's not wrong. I did mess up and this is how I got in this mess in the first place."

"What are you talking about?" Dib asked. "Did you attack your own planet or something?"

Zim put his hand behind his neck and said, "I-it was an accident. I put out _all_ of the fires, though."

"How can you accidentally attack your own planet?" Dib asked curiously.

"When you're running a giant robot, you sometimes forget what you're destroying and you just… ignore everyone's pleas to stop because we were still on our home planet," Zim said.

"Geez," Dib said, looking to the side. "What happened after that?"

Zim leaned against the side of the balcony. He reached out to a nearby irken foliage and tried to touch it when an invisible barrier managed to stop his hand in his tracks. A barrier that signified that there was no escape from jumping from the balcony. He sighed. "I was banished to Foodcourtia for several years, then I came back for our planet's second invasion operation. I was given your planet as a mission." He looked at Purple, who was now sleeping. "Though, now I know that was all a lie to get rid of me."

"And here we are now," Dib said. "You've been on the Earth for years, and now you are finally back on Irk. Only this time, you know that you're still banished and a few of your friends and leader are dead."

"Thanks for spelling that out for me," Zim said, lower his head a little.

"You know I didn't mean it like that," Dib said as he leaned his back against the balcony.

Zim nodded. "Dib?"

"Yeah."

"If we get back to Earth, even if it sounds stupid, can we just _not_ be enemies for a little while. Like… I'll put a pause on the whole destroying the Earth thing for a couple of months. I might punch you or threaten to destroy you personally, but just… for my own personal enjoyment. Mainly because I'm more important than you and I have to assert my dominance."

Dib chuckled, before frowning. "Yeah, I think that'll be fine. I mean… things are going to be a little bit different if we make it out of this alive." He looked over at Gaz who had fully fallen asleep as well. "Gaz and I won't have a family to come home, too. We'll be ran out of our house since neither of us have jobs."

Zim simply said nothing. Since he essentially lived in his house for free without any human suspicion, he didn't understand anything about the idea of being foreclosed. He figured that he would soon find out if they were to return safely. "I hope…" he thought for a moment, stopping himself. Zim never hoped, he just did. "It will work out fine."

"I think so, too," Dib said. "Let's sit down. I think Gaz and Purple have the right idea. Though, I envy them for being able to sleep at a time like this."

Zim nodded and sat down at one of the long balcony chairs. "Irkens can basically shut themselves off if they need to. Which obviously Purple really needs to. Your sister… she's not a normal human."

Dib chuckled. "Now, if only I can get everyone on Earth to believe that. Except everyone will think of her brother, the kid that's obsessed with aliens and a bunch of other things that don't exist."

Zim returned the chuckle. "Do you think that anyone will ever figure out that there is an alien right in front of them?"

"No way," Dib said. "If there's anything that you taught me, it's that everyone on this planet except for a select few are entirely stupid."

"Well, it must be difficult to be stupid with that big head of yours," Zim said.

Dib clutched his head and asked, "Is it really that big? I know people who are way worse."

"No, yours is the worst. Stop denying it."

Dib smirked. "Fine, I'll take your word for it. For now." He laid down on the long chair and placed his hands beneath his head to elevate it a bit. He looked up at the stars and asked, "Do irkens just look up at the stars?"

"Yes," Zim replied. "Though, I'm sure it's different than how you humans do it. We used to have a game called 'Which of these will be conquered or destroyed by next year?'"

"Sounds like a gruesome game."

"Well, you're a gruesome human."

"Well, you're a stupid-head."

"Well, you're a big dumb stinky-stink!"

"And you're both incredibly stupid and are interrupting my beauty sleep!" Purple exclaimed.

Dib turned to Purple and asked, "Beauty sleep?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Purple said before lying back down.

"Heh… okay," Dib said before turning back to the stars. He laid there in silence for several minutes until the stars were eventually obscured by a flashing red light. He wondered what it was, so he turned around. There was a red light next to the clock, which let him know that there was only a little over a minute left. "We'd better go."

"Why, I'm not done relaxing yet?" Zim asked.

"Because I don't want to find out what happens when that clock strikes zero. Because if things blows to bits just because we were being lazy, well… that would just be a stupid way to die."

Zim sighed as he got up. He walked over and woke up Purple who also grumbled from being shook. Dib did the same with Gaz.

They slowly got up and they walked to the door on the other side of the balcony that was marked 'Exit'. They went through it and closed the door behind them. The next room simply stared at them with non-existent eyes and the group simply stared back. They were prepared for the imminent torture to ensue.


	9. The Balance Beams

Good Fortune

Chapter 9 – The Balance Beam

They slowly got up and they walked to the door on the other side of the balcony that was marked 'Exit'. They went through it and closed the door behind them. The next room simply stared at them with non-existent eyes and the group simply stared back. They were prepared for the imminent torture to ensue.

"This looks… simple," Purple said as he approached the trap. When looking at it for the first time, the entire group definitely agreed with Purple. But in the back of their minds, they knew that nothing had been simple up to that point.

Dib looked around and got a basic idea of how the room was laid-out. There was the entrance, the exit, and a giant hole separating them. That was basically typical at that point. The only thing that was connecting them were two incredibly thin balance beams that were side-by-side. "Yeah, it's simple if you have decent balance. It would be difficult for someone as tall as you."

"If I had my PAK legs, this would be no problem," Purple said. He urged them to come out, as if he expected them to miraculously appear, but there was nothing. He sighed. "You know, I find it surprising that whoever did this managed to get rid of all of the technology in our PAKs except for the things that kept us alive."

"You know, I never thought of that," Zim said. "Isn't that kind of thing incredibly difficult? We would've been most certainly destroyed by now."

"Are PAKs really that complicated?" Dib asked.

"Do you really want to waste your time discussing it?" Purple asked. "It's not like it's important. We're trying to move forward."

"Actually, it's not wasting our time. Wouldn't you want to know who captured us?"

"Yes, but what's your point?" Purple asked. "What does this have to do with our PAKs?"

"Well, who would be smart enough to perfectly dissect a PAK without removing any of the vital technology that keeps you irkens alive?" Dib asked. "They're clearly skilled at it, too. They managed to do it five times without affecting any of you. Unless… one of you is lying to us and CAN actually use your PAK technology."

"Now's not the time to get edgy with us, kid. The last thing we need is for you to get paranoid."

"I'm not paranoid!" Dib exclaimed.

"Calm down, Dib," Zim said. "Yeesh. Why do you have to yell all of the time?"

Dib debated whether or not to find Zim saying that amusing or frustrating, so he decided to just ignore it altogether. "Never mind. The point is, we need to be skeptical of everything at this point. We're down to the last four, and if this trap is going to follow any of the patterns as the previous traps, then we'll be down to the last three in a minute here."

"Gee, Dib," Purple said, crossing his arms. "You're just definitely the voice of optimism today."

"Would you just shut up?" Gaz asked, chiming into the conversation. "I don't see _you_ coming up with any good ideas, so I wouldn't be talking."

"Oh, yeah?" Purple asked. "What about you, miss emotionless? Do you have anything _special_ to say or are you just going it bury it deep down with your emotions. I'm putting my money on the second… if I had any."

Gaz approached Purple. She had many things that she wanted to say to the irken leader. She wanted to make him feel scared that he had ever provoked her. She wanted to grab him by his uniform and throw him down the pit without a second thought, making him the next victim instead of anyone else. She wanted to make him suffer like she did with Iggins after he took her Game Slave 2.

Though, Gaz did none of those things. Instead, she simply went past him and went through the door that they all came in.

Dib gasped, wondering what Gaz was about to do. He looked up at Purple and glared at him. "See what you do? You irkens are all the same."

"Hey, she started it!" Purple yelled as Dib ran after his sister.

When Dib opened the door and closed it behind him, he saw Gaz walking to the door to the balcony. He ran after her, making sure that there wasn't a trap behind that door. Though, he was too late when Gaz got there and opened it.

Though, neither of them got what they expected. When she opened the door, the balcony was entirely destroyed. There were scorch marks on the edges, indicating that the whole thing was set on fire or was set to explode. It was clear that whoever threw them in there didn't want them coming back the way they came. Dib figured that it was the same for all of the other rooms.

That didn't stop Gaz, though. One of the beams was still perfectly intact and it led to the other door. She placed her foot on it and threw on her entire weight to test it out. Since she was light, it managed to keep her stable fairly well.

"Gaz, what are you doing?! Are you crazy?!" Dib exclaimed.

"I've seen you do crazier things," Gaz said as she shimmied along the beam, using some of the broken boards as a way to keep her balance. Her hands were delicate enough to keep the boards from snapping under her grip. "Do you want to see Dad one more time or not?" She didn't allow him to finish the question as she continued along the beam.

Dib sighed. 'So this was about Dad…' He admitted that he really wanted to see his father one more time before he either died or left this place forever. But… the problem was, his father was dead. He simply would be staring at a dead, lifeless body of someone who was once a part of the little family that he had. He didn't think he would be able to take the torture of going through that. "G-gaz, come back here. We need to keep moving forward. I bet Zim and Purple are going ahead without us and we need them."

"What did you just say?" Gaz asked in a stern tone. Dib recognized the tone and he didn't like it. He knew that he was in for something bad, especially when he saw that Gaz was coming back for him and climbed back up into the hallway that Dib was in. She didn't hesitate before tackling Dib to the ground. "I _asked_ you a question, brother!"

Dib gasped under Gaz's weight. He was entirely frightened, never setting Gaz off this badly before. He tried his best to get out from under her, but he knew that Gaz was far stronger than he was. He eventually learned not to struggle and simply yelled, "Gaz, get off of me!"

"Dib, you're smarter than this," Gaz said with a snarky tone. "And as much as I don't need to ask this question, but what is wrong with you? You have just lost the person that has given you direction in life. The one fatherly figure you are _ever_ going to have, and the only thing that you're thinking about is getting you and your boyfriend Zim to move forward. I knew you are _stupid_, but I didn't realize that you could be so terribly gullible and insensitive to everyone else's feelings!"

"Gaz, I'm sorry!" Dib exclaimed, trying to cover his face. "But you told me that you didn't care. You told me that you wanted to go further."

"I was lying," Gaz admitted. "I've been holding in my emotions for everyone's sake for too long, and now I don't want to be 'miss emotionless'." She stood up, pushing Dib to the side with her foot. "Now, you are either going to come with me to see our father for one last time before you go off and get yourself killed, or you can just accept how gullible, selfish, and heartless you are."

Dib simply stared up at Gaz. He was in complete shock at that point, many thoughts going through his mind at once. Every time he tried to get up, his muscles simply gave out and he would just fall back to the floor. Dib wanted to see his father, but he didn't see eye-to-eye with Gaz.

Gaz saw this as her brother's greatest weakness, and she pitied him for it. "That's what I thought. Cold, heartless Dib." She turned around and returned to the balcony.

Though, within her uncontrolled rage, her sense of delicacy was weakened. She was no longer gentle with the beam. The wooden boards creaked under the increased weight and pressure, though she ignored them. She continued to be smart about her strides, though.

Dib finally got up after a few moments. He quickly went to the balcony door to see that Gaz was reaching up to open the door on the other side. Both of them could hear the plank Gaz was holding to begin to snap.

They reacted quickly to it. Gaz opened the door and planted her hand on the floor before the plank officially gave out, leaving Gaz hanging only from one side. She could tell that her hand wasn't planted at an ideal spot and her balance was incredibly hindered.

Dib was shocked and quickly went after her. He stepped down onto the beam and followed her, figuring that this would be his one chance to redeem himself. "I got you, Gaz!" He shimmied over to the other side, being sure not to look down in fear of following off. He eventually made it to the other side and reached out his left hand to grab Gaz's dangling right hand. He missed the first time, but then reached out to grab it again the second time. This time, he made his mark and he managed to grab Gaz before she could slip.

They helped each other regain balance and managed to get Gaz's hands up to the next door. She climbed up. Gaz, in thanks for her brother's help, brought him up as well.

Dib was breathing heavily, his hands planted on his knees. He then stood up, proud that he was actually able to save Gaz in time before she fell to her death. "Aren't you going to thank me for my heroism?"

"I'd rather punch you in the gut," Gaz said. "Consider yourself redeemed. Maybe you actually _do_ have a soul."

Dib blinked. His sister was definitely back. "Let's just be glad that we're alive, okay?"

"Fine," Gaz said. "Let's go see Dad."

"Yeah…" Dib said. He followed her back through the same hallway that they came in. They went through the next door and they were thankful to see that the room was still fully intact… and that their father's body was still lifelessly sitting outside of the Smeet Room. Dib simply stood there staring at it, not sure what to do.

Gaz took the initiative and moved forward. She kneeled down and unfurled his body so that it was lying face-up. Since Professor Membrane had died of an inner heart condition, there were no marks anywhere on his body, leaving him perfectly intact.

Dib walked over to Gaz and said in a soft voice, "You were in there with him when he dropped down and died. What happened?"

"You must've seen it, too," Gaz said as she placed her father's hands over his chest. "They picked on one of us and picked something that we feared most."

"What did Dad fear most?" Dib asked.

This almost set Gaz over the edge, but she knew that Dib had to know. She stood up and turned around to face Dib. "If you say anything stupid after I'm done speaking, I'm going to make sure you regret it."

"My mouth is shut," Dib said, taking a single step back.

Gaz nodded. "Whoever was in there put something over my mouth so that I couldn't speak and shoved me against the wall. It was too dark for anyone to notice. Then…" She paused for a moment. "Then they showed two clips: one for that stupid Tallest guy and one for Dad. It was a clip about us… lying on the ground… in a pool of our own blood."

Dib blinked, scared to say anything, but also scared to stay silent.

"The video got worse and more intense, all of it ending with us dying. The lights in the room began to flicker and fake dummies of you and me were nailed to the wall." Gaz paused again. "I think there's more to it than just that, but after that… Dad was on the ground, shook for a while, then stopped."

She turned around and faced away from Dib. "The one time that I realize that our father truly cares about our well-being, even though he is _so… _busy all of the time. That is the time that he drops dead in front of me, seizing and having a heart attack." Gaz was breathing heavily and slowly dropped down to the floor. She ripped up one of the loose floor boards… then another… then another. "You'll never know what that's like, Dib."

Dib kneeled down next to Gaz, staying out of the way as she pulled some more boards out of the floor. "Well… if it makes you feel better, I'm starting to get it now."

"It doesn't," Gaz said as she tore another hole into the floor.

"Fine…" Dib said, looking down to the ground. He tried to find a way to console Gaz, but he just couldn't find the words. That's when he realized that silence was the best way to go with Gaz. Perhaps he would finally give her the chance to not be annoyed by him for once.

Gaz noticed the silence and actually appreciated it for once. She needed to get lost in her thoughts for a moment, and she couldn't do that with Dib bickering all of the time. She continued to tear boards out of the floor. Gaz looked over at Dib and said, "Move back a little."

Dib did as instructed and moved himself a couple of inches.

Gaz continued her work and pulled another board out from where Dib was. She finally said, "We're going to bury Dad."

"Here in a house on a planet that we don't even know?" Dib asked.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Gaz asked. "This is as far as we'll be able to take him, and he deserves better than just getting left here."

Dib thought for a moment, and again, figured that responding with a dumb answer wasn't exactly the best way to go. Instead, he dug his finger into the wood and, after a couple of tugs, managed to break free another board. Though as soon as he put it aside, he noticed that his hand was filled with splinters. It was a bit painful, causing him to groan lightly.

Gaz noticed this. She had been pulling out the wood while her hands were covered with the end of her sweatshirt. She should've known that Dib would be stupid and unprepared. Though… she was sympathetic for once. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the piece of purple fabric that she was holding onto and offered it to Dib.

Dib simply eyed it as he pulled out some of the bigger splinters. He was starting to put the pieces together, and his curiosity was getting the best of him. "That's Tak's, isn't it? You were… playing with it shortly after she died."

"If you speculate on this then I won't help you out," Gaz said.

Dib backed-off. He then pushed Gaz's hand away, denying her small offer. "Thanks, but I don't think I need it. You should… keep it." He turned around and grabbed his Dad's disheveled lab coat. He tugged at it with his weak hands and eventually tore a piece of the fabric free. He returned to Gaz and said, "We'll need something to remember them by."

Gaz paused at the statement and thought for a moment. Then without saying anything, she stood up and went over to her father. He gripped his tattered coat and tore off another piece of fabric with ease. "Yeah…" she finally said.

Dib couldn't help but crack a half-smile. This was one of the rare occasions where he and Gaz actually saw eye-to-eye, and he wanted to savor it as long as possible. At least… while the three of them were there together… for the last time.

The sentiment didn't seem too long since Gaz turned to continue her work. Dib simple watched until Gaz eventually stopped. She returned to her father's side and brought her hands down to his shoulders. "Grab his legs," she instructed.

Dib simply nodded, not wanting to create any tension. He grabbed his father's legs and lifted them. He was thankful that his father wasn't too heavy. Though, he was a little less thankful of the fact that he wasn't very strong, and especially weak from all of the challenges and walking. He slowly carried his father backwards, making sure not to stumble over the rugged flooring.

They made their way over to the hole that they just made. Gaz gave Dib a head-nod signal, gesturing for him to lower Professor Membrane down into the hole. They did so as gently as they possibly could. Once Dib and Gaz felt that their father was supported by the support beams below, they slowly let go of his arms and legs one at a time. Once again, he lay limp. Though this time, he looked a lot more peaceful than he did before. Dib and Gaz let out a deep sigh, satisfied with their work.

Gaz looked over at Dib, and Dib returned the look. She didn't say anything, nor did she give any indication with her face, but Dib imagined in some way that Gaz was using telepathy to say thank you. He thought it was silly, but it was better than thinking that Gaz thought of him as an idiot. Which she did. But he was her only idiot at that point.

Gaz took one last look at her father before looking forward to where they came from. "Let's go. We're done here."

"Don't you want to say your last goodbyes to Dad?" Dib asked.

"Don't you want to get out of here?" Gaz responded.

"I do," Dib said.

"Then stop complaining. There is nothing more that we can do from here," Gaz said. "We've done all we can for Dad. Do you really want to stay here and look at his cold… lifeless body for any longer?"

"And drive myself to insanity?" Dib asked. "I think I'll pass."

"Exactly," Gaz said, walking past him. "Let's go."

Dib nodded and followed his sister. He wasn't too excited to be moving forward. Not only did he not want to leave his dad behind, but he also didn't want to find out what was to come. At this point, the only person he felt he could afford to lose was Purple, and even then, he felt that he needed Purple. This was a strange planet and Purple seemed to know more about Irken technology than Zim did. And… he just couldn't face any more deaths. 6 was enough for him.

Dib and Gaz managed to get past the disheveled balcony with ease. Though, before Dib climbed up to the next section, he was dumb enough to look behind him at the ground. It looked so close to him, yet it was so far away. There was no way that he would be able to jump off of the balcony without breaking several bones. If he survived, he would certainly be rendered immobile.

Gaz practically read Dib's mind and pulled him up. "We're not jumping off of the balcony, stupid. Not unless you want to end yourself so soon."

"Why do you have to be so dark?" Dib asked.

"Do you want to know the answer to that?" Gaz refuted.

"No."

"Then don't ask."

"Fair enough," Dib said. He walked forward. He was half-afraid that Zim and Purple went ahead of them and were leaving them behind, but he was even more afraid of one of them already falling victim to the trap they had just faced. Neither of them were in the right mind, so it was highly likely. Dib opened the door, hoping that he was wrong.

Thankfully, in the long run, he was. Zim and Purple were safely on the other side of the trap.

"Took you two long enough," Purple said with a sly grimace. "What did you two do, anyways? Sulk?"

"We were doing something important," Dib said.

"You emotionless irkens wouldn't understand," Gaz said.

"Oh, and you would?" Purple asked with a slight smirk on his face.

Dib didn't even wait a single moment this time. He put a hand on Gaz's chest, knowing that she was still fuming from her encounter with Purple the last time. "He's not worth it. Trust me."

Gaz removed Dib's hand from her chest. "I know that. I just need to assert my dominance on him. He doesn't know who he's messing with."

"Yeah, well assert your dominance some other time," Dib said.

"Whatever."

Dib turned around. "Let's just calm down for a second." Dib looked down at Zim, who was curled up in a ball. He was shocked, wondering why he hadn't noticed him like that before. "What's wrong with Zim?"

"Yeeeah," Purple said. "There's something freaky about this trap that you two are going to find out about. It brought Zim down pretty good."

"What are you talking about?" Dib asked. He approached the skinny beams. They looked like they were too skinny to easily walk on, but he could easily crawl on them. "They look fine to me."

"Just find out for yourself," Purple said, crossing his arms. "You'll be fine, I'm sure. It's the easiest trap so far. Just make sure you keep your sanity intact."

"My sanity… intact?" Dib asked. He looked at Gaz, and she seemed unfazed.

"Just go, Dib," Gaz said.

"Yeah, they're probably just trying to scare us or something…" Dib said with a sigh, though he doubted that Zim would play a prank along with his ex-leader, regardless of how loyal he was. Dib got down on his hands and knees and crawled out onto the support beam. He tested it quickly to see if it would support his weight. Once he was satisfied, he moved forward and Gaz was right there behind him.

At first, he thought he was right. Purple was just trying to scare him and he bribed Zim to look scared. But then… then he understood what was going on. He was only a quarter of the way across the beam when he heard something echo across the entire room.

_Who knew my own son could turn out to be so selfish? Move forward and leave all of the dead behind as if they meant nothing._

Dib's heart skipped a beat. The voice that echoed across the room was undoubtedly his father's. He stopped for a moment, collecting his thoughts for a moment. His knees and arms began to shake a bit.

"Dib, don't you dare stop," Gaz said. "Dad's dead. He has no pulse and he is now buried under the floorboards. Keep. Moving."

"Yeah… yeah, I get it," Dib said. He slowly moved forward, though he was still shaky from the demeaning words.

_Do you really think I'm dead, Gaz? Do you really think I died simply because I had a heart attack from watching my kids die? You are more foolish than I thought you were."_

"You died," Gaz said quickly, clearly agitated. "Get out of here. Get out of here _now._"

_I guess you aren't as smart as I thought._

_That's the thing about human children. You can simply expect them to be idiotic brats who think only of themselves. Even Zim wasn't like that when he was a stupid smeet._

Dib grunted angrily in disgust and Gaz was experiencing a slight sense of shaking. The last voice was undoubtedly Tak's. It was really quiet, but Dib could hear Gaz say 'shut up'.

_Gaz, can you not face reality? I think your stupid brother has left you astray._

"No, I didn't," Dib said.

"Dib, shut up," Gaz said. "Keep moving before I move you myself."

He nodded. "Fine."

The two of them kept moving forward. The farther they got, the more it seemed that everyone who died had something snarky to say to them. Though, the ones that made them slip up the most was their father. They had just said their goodbyes to him. The last thing that they would want is to hear his voice one last time, telling them that they were bad children.

Once they got past the beam, they quickly crawled onto solid ground. Both of their hearts were beating heavily and they let out heavy breaths in order to deal with the thoughts that were going through their heads. This wasn't a new low for Dib, but he certainly didn't feel alright.

He felt a tap on his shoulder. Dib looked up and noticed that Purple was trying to hand him a small piece of paper. "I found this on the other side of the beam. It has some kind of message with the moral at the end of it. Seems kind of stupid, though. They're trying to kill us, but they want us to feel good about ourselves in the end…"

Dib grabbed the paper and read it to himself: "Everyone has negative thoughts about the world and the people around them. Wouldn't it make one feel better if they realized those thoughts aren't even real?"

Dib glared at the piece of paper. He crumpled it up as he stood. He walked over to the edge of the hole and tossed the piece of paper. "That was your reason for putting us through all that, huh? To teach us to ignore all of our negative thoughts?! You are a sadistic, insane person! What are you trying to tell me to do, huh?! Killing five of my friends and my father and all you want to do is teach me a lesson in the end!" He let out a shrill yell.

Dib felt a hand go on his shoulder. He figured someone was going to tell him to call down, and he didn't want that. He quickly thrashed his shoulder back and threw off whoever was touching him. He heard the person hit the ground with a heavy thud. Dib eventually looked down and noticed that he just knocked off Zim.

He breathed heavily for a few moments, but then he calmed down a bit. He saw Zim's innocent face, something he rarely saw. He knew that Zim was scared, too. He knew that Gaz was scared. He knew that Purple was scared. They were all so close to the end and they had managed to keep their sanity intact. Dib felt that he should be the absolute last to lose his sanity.

Dib knelt down next to Zim and said a soft, "Sorry."

"It's fine…" Zim said. "If this were a normal situation, then I would still be yelling right now." He sat up straight, resting his hands on his knees. "This thing… it broke me, too."

"What happened?" Dib asked, wondering what Zim had to go through.

He didn't want to relay exactly what happened, but Zim figured he could get out a short summary. "Let's just say that I thought that Tallest Red had enough to say to me to bring me down… and I was wrong." He lowered his head a bit. "So, so wrong."

"Does it make you feel better that it's all a lie?" Dib asked. He was still angry about the stupid message, but he felt that it held some righteousness, regardless of how the message was preceded.

"It would make me feel better if they weren't really dead," Zim said. "I don't care about how much I hate Tak, or how much Skoodge has done better than me, and how much Almighty Tallest Red hates me. I just don't want… I don't want… Guh! Let's just move forward. Zim is _tired_ of waiting."

"Are you sure?" Dib asked. "We can wait here as long as you like. There's… there's no more rush anymore."

"I want to get out of here right now," Zim said. "Right. _Now._"

Dib nodded. "Okay." He stood up and reached out a hand for Zim to grab. Zim did so and got helped up. Right after, Dib figured that Zim would flick the hand away, but he simply held onto it. Whether it was idly or not, Dib actually was glad that it was there. He had his sister and he now had Zim. If his father were here, everything would be ideal for Dib. But… nothing about this irken house was ideal. He just had to resist breaking down like he just did.


End file.
